NAIROBI, Kenya, March 15 – Ahead of the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Denmark, world U20 title holder in the 5000m Beatrice Chebet is charged to end Ethiopian dominance and bring back home the elusive women’s junior 6km gold that Kenya last won in 2013.
Olympic and World champion in the women’s 1500m, Faith Kipyegon is the last Kenyan to win the junior gold medal six years ago when the event was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, leading Agnes Tirop to a 1-2 finish.
But having seen the East African athletics powerhouse only bag bronze in the last event hosted in Kampala, Chebet is determined to break the jinx.
“My cross-country season has been fantastic, and I believe I am in the best shape thanks to my coach. I am training hard to make sure I bring home the gold, I am confident we will make it, I just urge my team-mates that we embrace team work,” Chebet, who won the National Cross Country cum World Cross trials in Eldoret, underscored.
Chebet will team up with Betty Chepkemboi, Jackline Rotich, Agnes Mwikali, Lydia Jeruto and Mercy Chepkorir to ensure Kenya reclaims back both its individual and team glory when the 43rd edition will run March 30 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Chebet, 19, has experience in the international stage having competed in the World U18 and Africa Championships in Algiers and she is not only setting her sights on the World Cross glory but also emulating superstar World Record holder, Eliud Kipchoge in dominating the globe.
“I want to run better and be like Eliud Kipchoge and break many world records, I want to be awarded many times as Kipchoge,” Chebet told Capital Sport.
In Kampala, as the Kenyan senior teams both men and women extended their dominance, the juniors struggled with Celliphine Chespol managing to bag bronze as Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey lead compatriot Hawi Feysa to a 1-2 finish.
In 2015 when the event was held in Guiyang, China, Kenya did not make it into the podium as rivals Ethiopians recorded a clean sweep.
“I don’t fear Ethiopians, I have trained hard and I will be ready for them,” Chebet stated.
The Kenyan team is intensifying its training in Kigari, Embu county under the watchful eyes of head coach David Letting.