Injury-free Cheruiyot optimistic ahead of world championships

Former world 1500m champion and Olympics silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot was in action this weekend where he competed in the 800m at the national Athletics Championships.

Cheruiyot made the final and went on to finish third in 1:45.10, finishing behind Kipng’etich Ngeno who won the national title in1:44.90 ahead of Cornelius Tuwei who timed 1:44.92 for second place.

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Commonwealth Games champion Wycliffe Kinyamal missed the podium after coming home in 1:45.12 ahead of Elias Ngeny and reigning Olympics silver medalist Ferguson Rotich, Collins Kipruto and Jeremiah Mutai in that order.

After the race, Cheruiyot said he was grateful to be preparing for the world championships without injury worries that had seen his form dip in the last three years or so, settling for silver at the Tokyo Olympics and finished sixth in 3:30.69 at the 2022 world championships in Oregon.

“I raced in the 800m at the national championships as part of my speed training and I will keep working towards qualification and challenging for the title in Budapest.

I am not where I want to be heading to Budapest in terms of speed and endurance but I am happy to be preparing for the task ahead without injury worries,” he said.

Cheruiyot has shifted his focus to the Athletics Kenya (AK) World Championship trials set for 7 and 8 July where he will be vying for the tickets against strong opposition.

Led by World Under-20 champion Reynold Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang and Vincent Keter who finished on the podium at this year’s Kip Keino Classic where Cheruiyot elected to compete in the 800m, finishing third, the 27-year old will have his work cut out.

“Maybe after the trials I will compete in a few other Diamond League races to keep preparing. I know I will face tough competition in the championship and after the trials I will sit with my coach and management and strategize for the series as I know a win in one will give me confidence ahead of the worlds,” Cheruiyot who is happy to have youngsters like Reynold lining up to take over when he switches to a longer distance concluded.

He admits that Olympics champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen remains his toughest challenger for the 15090m crown in Budapest, opining that he needs to work on his endurance to match up the Norwegian’s when they clash again.