NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge has tipped his training partner and close friend Geoffrey Kamworor to clinch the next two big races he will compete in; the World Cross Country Championship and the London Marathon in April.
Kamworor will line up in Australia on Saturday morning as the leading light in the Kenyan team, seeking a third individual world cross title.
And, who better top tip him for success than a man who has ran two of the top four fastest marathon times ever, Kipchoge.
“I think Geoffrey is doing well in training. He is in a good position to win London this year with a clear mind and good training and with the way I know him he will do it,” Kipchoge told Capital Sport.
Kipchoge also adds that he has been doing his noble task of motivating him and pushing him in training, and he believes the 30-year old will come good this year.
Since surviving a motorbike accident while training in Eldoret in 2020, Kamworor has struggled to get back into tip top shape.
He qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, but pulled out days to the event due to injury.
At the World Championships last year where he was part of Kenya’s marathon team in Eugene, he finished fifth.
Before London, his first target is a third World Cross title in Australia.
Speaking before the team left for down under, Kamworor said he was confident of doing well.
“I have prepared well. We have been in Kigari for a month and we have worked wel to prepare and I can say we are ready as a team and I am ready as a person,” Kamworor said.
He added; “I am not under any pressure because this will be my fifth time doing the cross country. The most important thing is that I have trained well and when I get to the race, I will do well.”
Kamworor won the World Cross in 2015 and 2017, but failed to defend it in 2019. He explains that the reason he didn’t do well was the fact that they were not familiar with the course.
“I have looked at the course in Australia and analyzed it and implemented it in training in Kigari. I expect to do well,” Kamworor noted.
