Resurgent Kipruto eyeing podium flourish in Belgrade jamboree

Former World Athletics Indoor Tour champion Collins Kipruto has his work cut out in an open men's 800m race at the World Indoor Championships set for 18 to 20 in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Kipruto has been busy since the Indoor Tour began and has featured in five meetings, winning two to put himself in the perfect position to fight for gold in Belgrade.

"Preparations have been good and the experience on the Tour will go a long way in helping me compete for a podium place as I make my debut at the Championships. I am ip against the same competitors I met during the meetings so I know what to expect. 

Team Kenya depart for Serbia ahead of World Indoor Championships

The first target is to go through the qualification and book a place in the final, after which I can have a game plan for the final race," offered Kipruto before his departure for Belgrade on Tuesday 15 March. 

Kipruto raced to victory at the Meeting de l’Eure in Val-de-Reuil, France held a month ago to break the meeting record. 

He held off compatriot, 17-year-old World Under-20 800m bronze medalist Noah Kibet and Morocco’s Mostafa Smaili to triumph in 1:47.05. Both Kibet and Smaili ran 1:47.27, but it’s Kibet who got the nod for the runner-up spot. 

He had a disappointing race for ninth place at the Hauts-de-France Pas-de- Calais held in Lievin a few days after his win but recovered well to win the Müller Indoor Grand Prix, in Birmingham two days later. 

The other Kenyan in the 800m race at the championship, Kibet, is not to be overlooked as he had good performances in the Tour. 

With the field set to be reduced to just six on Friday evening during the heats, there is every chance that potential champions will fall at the first hurdle, which will make the heats as riveting as the final itself. 

The two Kenyans face stiff competition from among others, Britain’s Elliot Giles, who took victory on the World Athletics Indoor Tour after winning in Madrid earlier this month in 1:45.43.

Giles is the only athlete in the field to have run below 1:44 indoors, but despite his obvious class he has yet to win a global medal, finishing fourth at the last edition of this championship in 2018.

"I know I am strong and if I get to the final, I know I can hold my position,” he said after that race in Madrid, where he edged Mariano Garcia to victory. 24-year-old Spaniard Garcia is another who is sure to be in contention again in Belgrade.

He is the quickest in the field this year with the 1:45.12 national record he ran to win on Staten Island, USA, last month, though he was beaten at the Spanish Championships by Alvaro de Arriba, an astute indoor racer who will look to add the world indoor title to the European indoor gold he won in 2019.

Additional information by World Athletics.