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NAIROBI Wholesale Terry Rozier Jersey , June 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Kenneth Keter and Ethiopia's Worknesh Degefa stand out as favourites in Saturday's Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon in the Czech Republic.


The Kenyan has been on a strong course and has the everything to lose in the event, which is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.


"It is not won until the last metre. I have done my part in training and hopefully, I will be able to do well against some strong global challenge," said Keter in Nairobi on Friday before jetting out.


Keter, 20, set his 59:48 career in 2016, and on Saturday will be targeting his first win over the distance this year after three performances in the 1:01:05 to 1:01:50 range in the first half of 2017.


Meanwhile, 23-year-old Kenyan Simon Cheprot, with a 59:20 lifetime best from 2013 to his credit, will start as the fastest in the field.


He is dipped under the 60-minute barrier on two other occasions --59:32 and 59:39-- but both of those came in 2015. He will bring a more modest season's best of 1:02:10 to the line of this eastern Czech city on Saturday.


Veteran Felix Kandie could also be a factor as well. With two sub-2:06 marathons under his belt, the 30-year-old has stronger credentials over the longer distance, but a 1:00:04 half marathon best set last year shows he can be expected in the mix.


Notable too is that his 2:06:03 personal best in the marathon was set in March, illustrating that he's in the shape of his life.


Also among the strong Kenyan contingent are Peter Some, with 1:00:21 and 2:05:38 (both from 2013) personal bests, and Josphat Kiptis, who won this race in 2015 in 1:00:21, still the 23-year-old's career best.


Also expected in the mix is rising British star Callum Hawkins, who's twice come close to breaking 60 minutes this year.


In February, he clocked 1:00:00 to win in Marugame, Japan, and followed up with a 1:00:08 run in New York in March, finishing second.


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Local residents in Rio de Janeiro said on Thursday, the day before the 2016 Olympic Games officially kick off, that their city is ready for the big show, despite numerous reports of lingering problems plaguing the first Olympic Games to be held in South America.

Locals, from ordinary residents to police officers and even former Olympians, said they are excited about the Games and remain confident that it's going to be a safe, high energy Olympics.

"We are ready, it's going to be the best Olympics," Claudia Carmo, a former gymnast who represented Brazil at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, told the Global Times on Thursday in Rio.

"I'm so excited, my heart is flipping all day long. I'm so happy to be back in Rio where I was born, and see everybody smiling and everyone from all over the world cheering all the athletes that give their blood for so many years just for a chance to get a gold medal," said Carmo.

Carmo, who now resides in the US, recently returned to Rio with her husband Aureliano Carmo to enjoy the 2016 Games, including carrying the Olympic torch on Thursday night and attending the opening ceremony on Friday evening.

"Rio is a great, high energy town. I think the Olympics are going to have a lot of energy here," said Aureliano, a top gymnast and coach in his own right, who participated in two Olympic Games. "We are excited about all the things that are going tc

That excitement could be felt on Thursday in talks with locals across the city, even though, on the surface, it seemed to be just another day in Rio, with no big pregame celebrations taking place, and most locals working or relaxing on the beach, as if oblivious to the coming spectacle.

Despite this illusion, locals were quick to list reasons for their excitement over the Olympics.

"This is our soul, we live sports every day, going to work, coming back and finding more sports," said local resident Eduardo Molinari as he prepared to kite surf near Barra da Tijuca, an area that draws thousands of locals to its beautiful beaches to enjoy outdoor activities including running, biking and surfing the waves.

"I'm very excited because it's a lot of people having fun and celebrating sports and happiness," Molinari told the Global Times on Thursday.

"In Rio, we are all about health, happiness and sports," making Rio the perfect place for the Olympics, Carmo said.

The excitement was also shared by police officers, who have been assigned to protect the Maracana Stadium, the main venue for the Rio Olympics.

"We are very excited for the Rio Olympics, the first in South America," said a police officer, who didn't provide his name, outside of the stadium.

The officer told the Global Times on Thursday that he and his colleagues have trained rigorously to ensure security for all, and they are happy to do it. Despite earlier reports of violent incidents in Rio, it will be a safe Olympics thanks to their hard work, he said, noting there are over 2,000 officers assigned to protect the Maracana stadium alone.

And as to other reports of concerns over the readiness of Rio's Olympic infrastructure, as well as the host country's political and economic turmoil, Rio residents maintained that everything will be just fine.

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