NAIROBI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- World Junior champion Rhonex Kipruto said Friday he targets to reclaim Kenya's gold in 10,000m at this year's World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
"One of my big goals for the year is the 10km world record on the roads at 26:44. I just missed it last year, running 26:46 in Prague, and once I get that I can think about the 10,000m record on the track - as hard as that is," said Kipruto.
Kipruto showed his form and talent when he smashed his personal best by 31 seconds to scorch to a 26:50.16 at the Stockholm Diamond League event in Sweden.
The 19-year-old, who finished sixth in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March, strode home 11 seconds ahead of Ethiopia's Olympic 5,000m bronze medalist, Hagos Gebriwhet who made a fine 25 lap debut with 27:01.02 in second position.
"I am very happy! A new world-leading time, under 27-minutes! Now I am going back to serious preparations, some more training until I run another IAAF Diamond League, maybe 5,000m. Later in the year, I will run 10,000m at the World Championships," added Kipruto.
Kipruto also intends to blossom at the 2020 season and the Tokyo Olympics is a perfect ground to flourish his career even as he plans to move up to the road races.
"I think I will stick to 10,000m, but the main goal of all, the main pressure for me, will come in 2020 - the Tokyo Olympics. It's still far away right now, but I'm taking the journey one step at a time." he said. Enditem
