NAIROBI, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Peris Jepchirchir believes she will be strong enough to make the Kenya team for the 2022 World Half Marathon Championships, to be held in the Chinese city of Yangzhou.
Jepchirchir, 26, last won the World Half Marathon back in 2016 in Cardiff, Wales, the same year she set a course record in Yangzhou of 67:21. Now she seeks to return to the Chinese city when it hosts the world's leading half marathon competition in three years' time, and aims to improve on her time and also reclaim the title.
"I would like to return to Yangzhou and improve on my time. It is good to know that World Athletics has awarded the city the rights to stage the World Half Marathon Championships in 2022," Jepchirchir said on Sunday.
The men's course record of 59:52 has remained intact since 2015 and was set by Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia.
China has one of the world's fastest-growing markets in road running, and is hosting 24 World Athletics Label road races in 2019, more than any other country. It hosted the World Half Marathon Championships in 2010 in Nanning and will stage next year's World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
