ELDORET, Kenya, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two-time senior and former junior men's IAAF World Cross Country Championships winner, Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor, has set his sights on retaining his crown in Aanhus, Denmark next month.
Speaking to reporters from his training camp in northwestern Kenya, the 2017 New York Marathon and three-time IAAF World Half Marathon gold winner, said that he was not willing to surrender the biggest crown at the now biannual distance running showpiece set for March 30.
"If I make the team, we are going to meet with the likes of (Joshua) Cheptegei of Uganda and athletes from Ethiopia who have been doing well in the recent past. Kenya has to run as a team to make sure they win back the title," the 26 year-old who came charging from the rear to defend the senior 10km at the Kampala 2017 edition in Uganda said.
Kamworor, a reputed multi surface distance runner, is wary of the threat posed by young compatriot, Rhonex Kipruto, who is shaping up to be the biggest domestic stumbling block to achieving his mission.
Kipruto won the African U-20 Cross Country title in Chlef, Algeria last year and has stepped up to compete against the seniors this term with an eye of upsetting the established order in Denmark.
"I watched how Kipruto was running during the (local) Discovery Cross Country Championships and I must say he is a good athlete to watch. It's going to be a tough battle for me but I believe in my training," Kamworor, a training partner of Olympic champion and world marathon record holder, Eliud Kipchoge, added.
Fresh from winning his unprecedented sixth Kenya Police Service National Cross Country title in Nairobi last month, Kamworor is relishing their face-off with Kipruto during the Athletics Kenya National Cross Country Championships set for Eldoret on February 23.
