Kenyans have won over 70 marathon races worldwide this year and  Tergat thinks Kenya has enough athletes to bring back home the tile that was won for the first time by the late Samuel Wanjiru during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"The title is ours to lose. The question of experience should not arise since Kenya has more than seven athletes running below 2:06 and only three will have to take part at the Olympics. We cannot afford to lose this title," said Tergat. "I would like to call on Athletics Kenya (AK) to select the team as early as now to help them adjust on their training and participation in other races."

Tergat said early selection will also keep the association in the picture as far as training programmes and injury worries are concerned. "The athletes to feature at the Olympics need to know early enough so that they can avoid the shorter races like 10km, 15km and half marathons which might have adverse effects to our Olympic title hopes."

 

He also called on the government to learn from their neighbours Ethiopia in regard to honouring athletes who excel at international races and especially when representing the country. "The government and the country must come up with a formula to honour our athletes especially by giving them competitive incentives once they win events like the Olympic," observed Tergat, according to The Nairobi Star.

"Most of these athletes are unemployed and non salaried and always depend on their physical fitness to survive." "Good incentives will help them overlook some races and keep fit for the Olympics." He said it is every athlete's dream to take part in the Olympics and the dream must be necessitated by all the concerned parties.