Bett, Kipruto in clash to light up Kip Keino Classic
A battle of titans is expected when world Under-20 3,000m steeplechase champion Leonard Bett and Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto battle it out during the Kip Keino Classic championships (World Athletics Continental Tour) on October 3 in Nairobi.
Bett has confirmed his participation and is ready for the battle after his sterling performance in the first leg of the Monaco Diamond League on August 14.
“My focus now is to improve my personal best during the World continental Tour in Nairobi after Monaco and I look forward to that important day,” Bett told People Sport.
During the first leg of the Wanda Diamond league, he clocked 8:08.78 to come second behind world bronze medallist Soufianne El Bakkali who crossed the finish line in 8:08.04.
Bett had set out to compete at the Diamond League in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Games that have since been pushed to 2021 as a precaution against the Covid-19 pandemic.
After making his debut at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year where he placed 9th, the athlete said the lessons he learnt from the global event will strengthen him even more in his career.
Regarded as the future legend in the water-and-barrier race, Bett is equally wary of the pressure that comes with the event which has long been regarded as a preserve of Kenyans.
Kipruto’s bid to kick-start his season suffered a major blow after he was ruled out of Monaco after testing positive for Covid-19.
Kipruto was aiming for another global gold and a world record this year but the coronavirus outbreak has forced him to go back to the drawing board.
“My preparation has been going on well and I am optimistic that all will be well,” he said. Kipruto has won four major 3,000m steeplechase titles in the last four years.
The first came at the Rio Olympics in 2016, followed by his maiden world title in London in 2017 and then gold at the Commonwealth Games the following year.
Last year, he missed several months of vital training with an ankle injury. But he built a pool in his back garden, regained his fitness through aqua-jogging and went on to retain his world title in Doha by the thickness of his vest. It was an extraordinary story.
Already Athletics Kenya (AK) has picked 230 athletes for a test competition on September 12 ahead of the event.
AK’s Director for Competitions Paul Mutwii said the participants for the event, the last of the World Athletics (WA) Continental Tour meetings, will be announced on today.
He said the selected the athletes based on their current world ranking by WA and athletes’ performance during the World Athletics Championships held in Doha last year.
The core events during the Kip Keino Classic are triple jump, hammer throw, 200 metres and 3,000m steeplechase races featuring men and women.
Javelin throw (men only), 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m races will fall under the discretionary events.
The 20km race walk, high jump (men only), long jump (women only), 4x400m mixed relay, 400m hurdles and 10,000m (men only) are in the national category.
So far, three of the seven golden events in the Tour meets have been staged with the Seiko Golden Grand Prix that was held in Tokyo on Saturday being the latest.
