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Africa walk race champion Samuel Gathimba has said he struggled to cope up with searing heat during men’s 20km race walk at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
The 32-year-old Gathimba, who finished 32nd his race on Friday, has said he was adversely affected by the heat and resorted to pouring water on his head to help him cool off.
“The first five kilometres were just fine, but afterwards, I started feeling as if I had been walking on fire. I poured water on my head in every kilometre. The weather did not favour me at all, and so were the others,” Gathimba, who is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, said.
A day before the race, Gathimba, who also has a season best time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 04 seconds, had downplayed the possible effects that the hot weather in Doha could have on him, saying weather conditions will not be unique to him on the day of the race.
“I am sure we will all face similar weather conditions and so it is nothing unique to me,” Gathimba told Nation Sport on the eve of the race on Thursday.
He acknowledged that things did not go according to plan in the race that featured 57 athletes.
“The race did not go according to how we had planned with my coach. It is important to state that fact,” the 30-year-old pointed out.
The veteran race walker has shifted his focus to 2020 Olympics where he plans to mount a successful title campaign.
“The World Championships are over now, so I will take a short break and embark on preparing for Olympics qualification,” he said of his future plans.
The athlete has one piece of advice to future race walkers – discipline, focus and hard work is all you need to succeed as an athlete.
“As an athlete, you must determine your training programme and stick to it religiously. Nothing comes easy. One must apply oneself fully to the task at hand without having divided attention,”
Gathimba, who is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, told Nation Sport.
Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi won gold in the race, the bespectacled 23-year-old striking gold in 1:26:34.
Authorised neutral athlete Vasily Mizinov timed 1:26:49 to grab silver. Perseus Karlstrom earned Sweden its first men's race walking medal at a World Championships by taking bronze in 1:27:00.
