Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
11 July 2001 - Debrecen - On the eve of the first day of competition, the young athletes gathered in the official training camp, a beautiful stadium located a few hundred metres from the Nagyerdei Stadium which will host the 2nd IAAF Westel World Youth Championships.
A group of young runners wearing the typical red and green colours of Kenya enter the stadium and get ready for what is to be their last training session before the competition starts tomorrow. Among them 800m world youth leader Cosmas Rono is distinguishable thanks to the blue woollen hat he wears despite the boiling temperature.
“I wear it because I like it, because it brings me good luck,” says the 16-year-old who clocked the excellent time of 1:47.78 in Germany last May.
A protégé of James Templeton, Rono was offered the chance to spend three weeks in Germany this summer – “it was before I traveled back to Kenya to compete in the National trials” – where he trained with the likes of 3000m steeple chase runner Kipkirui Misoi (Kosmas’ cousin), 1999 World Championships finalist Japhet Kimutai (800m) and 2000m Olympic bronze medallist Bernard Lagat (1500m).
“We are still growing you know. They are the ones who know what track and field is. We are young athletes who still need to learn a lot. Having the chance to stay with them has been a privilege for me and I will make sure that I learn from this experience. “
Ready for a 20-minute jog and a training session during which he will try his new spikes for the first time, Kosmas is all smiles. “They are brand new! I have to wear these tomorrow because my national team has a contract with this brand and I want to try them at least once before the competition. You never know”
Kosmas will have to run three times before hopefully stepping on the podium in Hungary, the heats being scheduled for Thursday, the semi-finals for Friday and the final for Sunday.
“As I don’t compete on Saturday, I will probably do a jogging session in order to keep the rhythm going.”
The most famous of the fifteen-member Kenyan team which has made the trip to Hungary, Kosmas has no doubts on what his objective will be on Sunday.
“Silver? No, no I don’t like this metal. I want gold, and hopefully it will happen.
“The place is beautiful here and the college where we are accommodated is really nice. I promise that if I win on Sunday I will dance all night long!”
A television addict when he doesn’t train - “I like listening to music as well” – Kosmas is not set on what the near future holds for him.
“It all depends on what I will achieve here, but ideally I would like to run three races in Europe then go back home and rest for a month or so and resume training for next season no later than October.”
For the time being Kosmas has no intention to trade his home country for another training centre. Despite having been training for the last few weeks in Nairobi in preparation for the World Youth Championships, Kosmas is indeed a member of the High Level Training Centre of Eldoret.
“I love my country, I love Kenya and training there is fantastic. It is a wonderful country and the landscapes are magnificent. Those who haven’t been there yet definitely have to make the trip.”
