NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 – Geoffrey Kamworor’s dream of gunning for the Olympic medal, one of the two missing titles from his cabinet have been thwarted after he was ruled out of the Tokyo Games with an injury.
An MRI on his foot on Thursday showed that he had a stress fracture on his foot and he needed about two weeks to heal properly, therefore ruling him out of the Olympic Games.
He was lining up for the 10,000m and was highly tipped to clinch the crown especially with the absence of Mo Farah.
“I am really devastated to be honest because this is something that I had really worked for for a very long time. I had sacrificed a lot of time, energy and money to ensure that I am ready, then this happens in the last minutes. It is so heartbreaking,” Kamworor told Capital Sport from his base in Eldoret.
The three-time world half marathon champion had looked forward to competing again after being involved in an accident last year while training in Eldoret.
He made a return to comfortably win the Kenyan trials and book a slot to Tokyo and was already stepping up his training towards the travel date.
The duty to fly the Kenyan flag will now rest on Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Langat who finished second and third at the trials.
Despite his absence, Kamworor is still optimistic that the two can battle to bring the gold medal home.
“I know they are well able. I will support them when they travel to Tokyo to compete and I know they will do well for Kenya,” said Kamworor.
“As much as it is devastating news to me, I just have to remain calm, rest and let the injury heal. I know I will bounce back in a huge way,” added Kamworor.
The 10,000m final is scheduled for Friday evening.