Mutai ‘let down’ by team selectors

Geoffrey Mutai may have run a 2:03:02 in Boston in 2011, but that wasn’t enough to get him chosen for the Kenyan Olympic team.

Now Mutai has publicly spoken out about not being chosen to run the men’s marathon at the 2012 London Olympics. Athletics Kenya opted to give the spots to Abel Kirui, Moses Mosop and Wilson Kipsang.

“I did not expect to be left out of the team,” Mutai told AllAfrica.com. “What is more painful is that after being selected in the initial team of six, I was not informed again of the decision to leave me and I only learned of it through the media.

“I hope the team selected will live up to the challenge of retaining the title that was won by the late Samuel Wanjiru in Beijing in 2008,” he added. “I think they should have called the six of us and informed us of the reasons to pick the three. That would have been OK with me, even if I was omitted.

“If they opted to leave me out because I failed to defend my title in Boston by failing to finish, I would like to say I dropped out because of the sun and not anything else,” he added. “I have had a good training spell and my body is in good shape as my focus was on the Olympics. But now because I am not in the team, I will just concentrate on my training as I look forward to the rest of the season. I will continue to work hard since the AK might need me in the future.”

Mutai will compete in the Ottawa Race Weekend 10K on May 26.