体坛英语新闻：Foreign agents to blame for failure by Kenya to defend overall title at World C'ships

NAIROBI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Lack of form and injuries could have taken the wind out of Kenya team, which saw it fail to defend its overall title against giants the United States.

Head coach Julius Kirwa, however, promised to oversee a stronger team in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018 and the 2019 World Championships.

"We have potential. But we need to change our plans. It is not a complete rearrangement, but to fine tune some aspects and focus athletes have on these championships," Kirwa said Tuesday in Nairobi.

The coach noted that a part from some of the senior members of his team carrying injuries - Nicholas Bett (400m hurdles, Eunice Sum (800m), David Rudisha (800m) and Julius Yego (javelin) - the country still had a good team in London and is happy with the performances.

However, Kirwa cited interference from athletes' agents and managers in team plan as some of the challenges he encountered in London.

"We need the autonomy to control our athletes during this period of the championships. It is a national affair and their allegiance is to Kenya and not their foreign masters. It is not about Nike, Adidas or Puma. It is about representing Kenya," he said.

Kenya grabbed 11 medals - five gold, two silver and four bronze - to finish second behind the United States with 30 medals (10 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze).