World champ confident of being fit for Diamond League season-opener
Nairobi, Sunday @PeopleDailyKe
Commonwealth Games 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi says he will be fit and ready for competition in time for the Diamond League season-opener in Doha, Qatar on April 17.
Manangoi, 27, forfeited his title at last year’s World Championships in Doha, with compatriot and team-mate Timothy Cheruiyot picking up the gauntlet to retain the medal for Kenya.
But after shaking off the ankle injury, Manangoi is pushing hard to regain his fitness ahead of the new season.
“Progress is a slow process,” Manangoi said in Nairobi on Saturday.
“However, I am happy with my process coming back from my injury. I look forward to getting back on the swing of things,” he added.
Of concern to Manangoi will be to navigate through the national championships and reestablish his grip on the race now that his younger brother and world junior champion George Manangoi and Cheruiyot have moved in to fill the gap while he was in rehabilitation.
Manangoi’s last race was in August, where he aggravated his ankle injury and his coach pulled him from further competitions to avoid him getting a hamstring or tendon problem.
“The truth is last season was too bad for me after missing the world championships due to a knee injury. But now I am back, ready to contest for the Olympic Games title,” Manangoi said.
“It was a bad injury. I would term it a monster injury because it took away what I desired most in my career. I want to forget it and have a good season in 2020,” he said.
Manangoi is pitching his training camp in Ngong in the outskirts of Nairobi and believes the hard work will soon yield results. “With just a few months to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the hard work is just beginning,” Manangoi added.
Should Manangoi re-establish his position among the best 1,500m runners in Kenya and win a trip to Tokyo, he will have conquered his worst fear.
It will be his second attempt at the Olympics. He made the Kenya team to the 2016 Rio Olympics together with Asbel Kiprop but disappointed as he finished in 12th after clocking 3:45.47.
“The experience in Rio Olympics was not what I was expecting. But it shaped my career as I changed my focus. I went on to win gold in London 2017 World Championships.
Rio turned out to be a good learning curve. It was a morale booster, to be stronger and know that everything is possible if you fail and return stronger,” Manangoi said. - Xinhua
