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Why Geay has skipped world championships in Budapest
Gabriel Geay of Tanzania crosses the finish line to emerge the runner-up during the 127th Boston Marathon held on April 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. in the United States. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- Geay who holds the national marathon record, and 2027 world bronze medalist Alphonce Simbu have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Games
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s top runner Gabriel Geay has given three reasons that have made him not to compete in the World Athletics Championships scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19 to 27.
Geay, who holds the national marathon record and 2017 world bronze medallist Alphonce Simbu are the only runners, who have so far qualified for the biggest athletics event in the world.
Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, Geay said technical reasons have made him not to compete in the event despite having secured the qualifying marks.
He said he is currently preparing to compete in the Sydney marathon scheduled to take place in September. According to World Athletics (WA)’s regulations, he is prohibited from featuring in any event till after 90 days.
“Instead I have decided to compete in the Sydney marathon as well as the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Paris next year. So far, I have confirmed to compete in Sydney and after that I will start gearing up for another race,” said Geay.
He explained that WA has already closed the curtain on finding standards for the marathon and the 35 km race walk since May 30, while the curtain for the remaining sports is expected to close on July 30.
"I have also decided to leave that opportunity to other athletes as I prepare for the 2024 Olympics," he said.
Geay is among the five sportspersons, who are being sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Others are Simbu, Failuna Abdi, Andrew Thomas (judo) and Hilal Hilal (swimming), who are all under IOC’s training programme before making it to the Games.
“Currently, I continue my training ahead of the international race under my trainer, Thomas Tlanka. My target is to win a medal,” he said.
The winner of the Sydney race slated for September 17 will take home lucrative prizes.
So far, Geay holds two medals, both he won in the United States of America’s Boston events.
In April, this year, the runner finish second to win a silver medal after clocking 2:06:06 in the Boston marathon ahead of favourite Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.
Evans Chebet, also from Kenya, won a gold medal in the race after clocking 2:06:04.
In the month of June, this year, the Tanzanian runner won a gold medal in the 10km Boston road event held in Boston, the US, where he clocked 27.49 as athletes from 102 countries competed in the 6.2-mile race through Back Bay.
