Abunda eyes African Games, World Champs Hammer Throw slots

National hammer throwing champion Dominic Abunda is keen to shake off an injury-plagued 2022 by qualifying for this year’s All African games that will be held between August 4th and 19th in Accra Ghana.

Abunda’s bid to make the cut for last year’s 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom was cut short after he failed to recover on time from a foot injury.

After staging a brilliant start to 2021, his career took a hit as he was forced to make do with the unavailability of personal trainers with many of them electing to keep off training facilities due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Abunda says he is ready to cover the necessary ground to qualify for the biennial games with his immediate priority being doing well in the annual Kip Keino Classic, a Continental Gold Tour slated for May 13th this year.

“I will aim to outdo my personal bests in all competitions that I will participate in this year. Particularly, I intend to use the Kip Keino Classic to secure qualification for the African Games,” he told Citizen Digital.

Abunda also has set his sights on making the cut for the World Championships slated for Budapest, Hungary between August 19th and 27th this year.

While the seasoned athlete braced for a busy schedule this year, he will prioritize getting in shape as a key ingredient to him achieving his targets this term.

“My body is responding well since I managed to shake off the foot injury that caused me problems last year.

“I am on course in my training program which is a good thing for my progress this year.”

Abunda holds the national record of 61.38 metres, a distance he managed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia where he finished 16th.

The 26-year-old who hails from Suneka in Kisii County managed a throw of 61.54 at the 2019 Kenya Defence Forces championships.