NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal of Kenya may not be ready to inherit Olympic Champ David Rudisha's throne but he plans to run under one minute and 43 seconds this year.
The 20-year-old made the announcement in Nairobi on Friday ahead of next week's Diamond League third stop in Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USA.
The Kenyan prodigy made his Diamond League debut in Shanghai, China a week ago to glide to victory in a personal best time of 1:43.91 leaving the world to dream how fast he can run.
So far, the men's 800m world record is 1:40.91, made by Kenya's Rudisha at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
"I feel I have good speed-endurance and I plan to run under 1:43 this year," Kinyamal explained of his qualities and future plans for 2018.
With a little over 20 competitive 800m races in his life so far, Kinyamal's best is clearly yet to come.
Until 2016, the Shanghai Diamond League winner had no ambitions to run on track but wanted to excel in high jump. But after he was introduced to running, he has no plans to return to the high jump.
"No. I have left the high jump in the past back in Kenya," he said.
And after his dazzling transition into the 800m who could blame him. He has been lined up to compete at the Rome Diamond League meeting on May 30.
He also has plans to represent Kenya at the Africa Championships in Asaba, Nigeria in August.
"Winning gold at Commonwealth Games in Australia has given me a lot of confidence," he said.
"My career ambition now is to do a lot more at the 2019 World Championships (in Doha) and 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo."
Kinyamal progression in 2017 was frustratingly stunted by a hamstring injury and he limped to sixth spot in the heats at the Kenyan World Championship Trials in Nairobi.
The issue meant he missed two months of competitive action only to return in late August in Rovereto, Italy, where he made another giant leap forward in his fledgling career by taking victory in a stunning new personal best of 1:43.94.
"I followed the pacemaker and later (Antoine) Gakeme from Burundi," he explained. "I moved to the front at 250m and started to push the pace. The time surprised me."
Making his 2018 seasonal debut indoors in Dusseldorf, finishing second in 1:46.54, he also revealed another similarity to Rudisha - a lack of aptitude for running indoors.
"I found it hard running around the tight turns, because I am tall," he explained.
A week-and-a-half later in the more familiar outdoor running environment he secured second spot at the Kenyan Commonwealth Games Trials, recording 1:44.72 - just 0.08 behind Jonathan Kitilit - to book his ticket on the Kenyan team for Gold Coast. The rest is history, which Kinyamal wants to help write. Enditem
