Mangata Ndiwa wins the junior men's race for Kenya (© Getty Images)
Going by previous performances, Kenya will be the team to beat in the 11th World Junior Championships in distance events when competition gets underway on 15 August.
Even with stiff opposition from Bahrain and Ethiopia eminent, the team in Beijing is time tested and well versed with the rigours of international competition.
Previously the country produced new faces in each age group editions. Most were either vanquished or graduated to senior levels especially in the last eight years.
The 2006 juniors are an exception. Those in attendance have grown through the various levels of competition, notably the World Cross Country and World Youth championships devoid of the haste associated with Kenyan youth.
Their goal is the Beijing Olympics and they are not in a hurry to jump into the energy-sapping senior competition before their time.
Their credentials speak volumes especially this season. Take Mangata Ndiwa for example. The World Cross Country Champion has shown tremendous form, mixing with seniors with ease as well as ruling his peers. Though second in the trials at the 5000 metres, Ndiwa is a medal hopeful when he teams up with Joseph Ebuya, the highly talented athlete from Kenya's northern frontier district which lacks an athletic tradition. Ebuya becomes the second member of the Turkana tribe after 1988 Seoul Olympics 800m champion Paul Ereng to make frequent appearance in major world events.
Ebuya notched a fourth in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in the 5000 metres last March and a few days later finished in a similar position at the World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka. Graduating to the seniors gradually and sustaining his consistency is his long term goal going into Beijing.
For Bisluke Kipkorir, third in Marrakesh at the steeple, the World Juniors offer him an opportunity to follow the footsteps of 1999 World Youth champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen.
Julius Kirwa will be hoping to improve on the silver in the 400m, as is Jackson Kivuva in the 800m.
Kenyan girls are considering themselves head and shoulder among equals. Sharing the podium with the boys is obviously a tenable goal. Flavious Kwamboka, the 800m World Youth champion, kicks off their campaign with a possible second goal medal but the real competition is between Veronicah Nyaruai and Pauline Korkwang in the 3000m.
Last year Nyaruai relegated Korkwang to second in Marrakesh. They reversed roles at the Fukuoka World Cross but a face off did not materialise at the trials after Nyaruai chose the 5000m where she finished third.
Peter Njenga (Daily Nation) for the IAAF
