Make us proud again at world cross-country

Tanzanian runners have a chance to win medals tomorrow when the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships take place in Kampala.

Tanzania will be represented by 27 runners. It is the largest representation in nearly three decades.

The last time the country sent such a big team was back in 1991, for the Belgian event. Twenty four runners were in the fold.

The team left for the Ugandan capital on Thursday by bus. We hope that road-weary will not have an adverse effect on their performance.

Tanzania has gone for 15 years now without a cross-country medal.

However, there is an air of expectation that some of our runners will excel at the event, which has attracted over 500 competitors from 59 nations.

We know that all eyes will be on the Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes. They have dominated the championships since 1981.

But the Team Tanzania comprises a host of seasoned runners who can outpace the touted competitors to the podium.

Jackline Sakilu, Fabian Joseph, Emmanuel Giniki and Sara Ramadhani are some of our best athletes we can bank on for medals.

While Kenya and Ethiopia are laden with medals, Tanzania has so far won two medals only; a gold and silver.

Andrew Sambu won gold medal at the 1991 race in Antwerp before John Yuda ended a decade-long medal drought with silver at the 2002 championships in Dublin, Ireland.

Medals are not the only motivation for our athletes, there is a jackpot for the winners, thus this is a good opportunity to make money.

The IAAF has set aside a total of $310,000 (about Sh690 million) in prize money to be awarded to the leading runners in the senior races.

Winners of the individual men’s and women’s races will each earn $30,000 (Sh67m), with money paid out to the top six finishers.

We challenge our runners to draw inspiration from Yuda and Sambu, and make Tanzania proud again.