- Brazilian prodigy Luiz Mauricio Da Silva threw 86.34 metres to win men’s javelin competition in Absa Kip Keino Classic at Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi on Saturday.
The 25-year-old won the title with his second throw, registering a new Personal Best at the Kenyan leg of World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series. The Brazilian won ahead of 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympic Games champion, Thomas Rohler of Germany, who threw a distance of 80.79m, also a new personal best, for second place.
Afterwards, Da Silva said he was happy to compete in Kenya, adding that he hopes to carry his red-hot form to the next competition as he aims to hit top form with an eye on the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
“It’s been a great experience coming back to Kenya.
This is my second time here, and I feel this was a good competition for me with solid throws. Now, I need to prepare for this year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. I’m pleased with my performance today, and my goal for my next competition in Portugal is to maintain this form, especially throwing consistently like I did today, so that I achieve more personal bests or even an Area Record – like today, this throw is easily an Area Record for South America.
I feel that I’m in the right shape for my next events, all I can do now is to be grateful to Kenya for the event you’ve put on, and the whole atmosphere – everyone in the crowd was cheering and this is very positive during a competition,” he said.
Completing the podium places was Leandro Amos of Portugal, who threw 80.68m.
The 2015 world champion, Julius Yego of Kenya who had hoped to upgrade his silver medal from the 2022 edition of Kip Keino Classic to gold, finished fifth in a season best distance of 78.74m.
