Nairobi — National team middle distance athletics coach Bernard Ouma has disclosed that athletes have been mentally drained and going through psychological challenges from the effects of the lockdown initiated by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Ouma led five of his athletes to their first track session since disruption of training on Tuesday afternoon as he prepares them for the Maurie Plant Memorial Race, a virtual competition between Kenyan and Norwegian athletes scheduled for June 11.

Ouma's athlete, World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot will team up with fellow metric mile speedstar and Commonwealth Champion Elijah Manangoi as well as 800m runner Edwin Meli to compete against the Ingebrigtsen brothers; Jakob, Filip and Henrik in a virtual race.

After the race, Ouma will prepare his athletes for the new calendar season released by World Athletics.

Most of his athletes, led by Manangoi and Cheruiyot will start their season in Monaco on August 14.