Bongiwe for Kenya National Champs
MBABANE – She keeps making the country proud.
This is the story of the country’s fastest woman, Bongiwe Mahlalela, who left South Africa through the O.R Tambo International Airport en route to Nairobi, Kenya, to honour an invitation by Athletics Kenya (AK). Mahlalela will compete in the annual Kenya National Athletics Championships starting today.
The Kenyan Athletics Championships is an annual track and field meeting. It serves as that country’s national championships for the sport. Athletics Kenya, the country’s governing body for athletics, organises the event. Mahlalela, who runs for the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), will partake in the 100m and the 200m events, starting from this afternoon. The sprinter said she was excited to compete in the championships.
“Getting the invite from Athletics Kenya was a really good feeling. To be recognised is something that I’m grateful for. I really appreciate the opportunity that Kenya has given me and I’m looking forward to a good performance. All thanks to Athletics Eswatini and EOCGA,” she said.
Mahlalela, who will be competing in the next three days, mentioned that she was happy with what she has achieved midway through the year. “The year has been good and I believe that I’m on a good track. Already I have four personal bests in one season. Even though I want a sub 24 in 200m,
I’m positive that I’ll break it soon but I believe nothing is impossible since I have put all the hard work in training and gym,” she added.
Meanwhile; Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maxwell Jele said they were excited to see Mahlalela getting such recognition. “We are proud of her and we were happy to help our sprinter with the travelling costs and we believe she will do her best to make the country proud,” she said.
The Kenyan Championships are open to athletes who wish to qualify for the World Athletics Championships. The seasoned sprinter, who last month participated at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in Gaborone, where she finished in the first place with a time of 11.65 seconds, revealed that she was hoping that she would attend the 2023 World Championships, starting in August 19 in Budapest, Hungary.