Kenya plot conquest at worlds without Rudisha
nairobi — Kenya’s athletes were set to fly out to London’s World Championships on Tuesday, their hopes for domination battered by the last-minute withdrawal of 800m Olympic champion David Rudisha with a quad injury.
Olympic 3,000m steeplechase runner Conseslus Kipruto was aiming to add a world title to the gold he won in Rio last year — and three-time world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop has vowed to retain his crown in the games that begin on Friday.
But Rudisha’s torn muscle robbed him of his chance to go for a third world title and gave his team a steeper climb up the medals table, which it topped in Beijing two years ago.
“We cannot be overconfident, even if we have such a good team,” head coach Julius Kirwa told Reuters on the eve of their departure.
He has good reasons to be cautious, given the political and legal distractions that have swirled around the team in recent months.
Its participation in London was cleared when officials finally filed paperwork showing it had met IAAF’s anti-doping conditions, after missing two previous deadlines.
Kenya’s reputation for middle and long distance running has been tarnished by failed doping tests among its elite athletes, including former three-times Boston and Chicago marathon winner, Rita Jeptoo, and Jemimah Sumgong, the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic marathon gold medal.
With the paperwork filed, attention has switched back to the 48-strong team.
“As Olympic champion, this is what I have been waiting for. I would wish to be crowned a world champion,” 22-year-old Kipruto told Reuters in the capital, Nairobi. “That will fulfil my sentimental wish. Twice, I have been silver medallist — 2013 in Moscow and 2015 in Beijing. It would be great to be a world champion.”
He will be up against compatriot and two-time Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi, who delayed retirement after missing out in Brazil saying: “I must retire (from steeplechase) as a champion.” —