Mark Otieno opens up on how his son is inspiring him to greatness

Mark Otieno opens up on how his son is inspiring him to greatness

Abigael Wafula 16:26 - 16.06.2024

Former national champion Mark Otieno has given interesting details about his son's name and explained how he draws inspiration from him.

Former 100m national champion Mark Otieno has disclosed how his son, Luke Baraka Odhiambo, inspires him to be the best version of himself.

Otieno welcomed his bundle of joy in February and he admitted that life has changed since then. In an interview, he disclosed that the young one is the reason behind him working hard and waking up very early in the morning in the hunt for a better life.

Speaking about the reason behind the name Luke, Otieno noted that it means light and it is the third Gospel of the Bible and him being a very spiritual person, that means a lot to him.

“He is called Luke Baraka Odhiambo…the name means light. Yes, I did. This boy really means so much to me and of course, his name is the third gospel of the Bible. He does, this boy has really made me wake up very early in the morning to work hard,” Otieno said.

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Otieno was in action at the Kenyan Olympic trials held at the Nyayo National Stadium and his main goal is to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

However, he fell short, clocking 10.12 seconds behind Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala who set a stunning world leading time of 9.79.

The qualifying time for the men at the Olympic Games is 10.00 and the deadline is June 30. Otieno has another chance to try and attain the time at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Cameroon. As it stands, Omanyala is the only Kenyan athlete who has qualified to go to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and compete in the 100m.

Meanwhile, the father of one came back fully into competitive running this season after his ban ended mid-last year.