Kamworor out for Farah revenge in Cardiff

Kamworor out for Farah revenge in Cardiff

Defending champion, Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor is a man on a mission at Saturday’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, Wales.

Having ran double Olympics and world champion, Mo Farah close at last summer’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, the World Cross champion welcomes the Briton to his territory seeking to turn the tables and hold on to his crown.

After outkicking a trio of Kenyans for the world 10,000m title in Beijing Farah commented: “it felt like it was me against the whole team,” and he can expect nothing less than a furious onslaught from a nation he denied glory in China.

The Kenyans have been ramping up the rhetoric in the build-up and reigning champion Kamworor has even talked about using this race as a platform to challenge the world record of 58:23 if the conditions on race day meet his liking.

The predicted heavy rain and strong winds might get in the way of any record attempts, but if recent history is anything to go by, the race is still expected to be fast.

Kamworor is joined by Bedan Karoki with whom he worked in tandem to shake off the Ethiopians at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Guiyang 2015 and shared the pace over 10,000m in Beijing last summer.

Farah has seldom – if ever – been put under such sustained pressure in a track final and the Kenyans will be buoyed by the fact they have double the distance on Saturday to run the finish out of him, but Farah has proved he is a capable performer at the distance, regardless of how the race is run.

While Farah will be looking to become the first ever British winner of the men’s race, Kamworor will be aiming to become the first athlete since Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese in 2009 to win back-to-back titles at the event.

However, Karoki has also quietly chalked up a brilliant record on the roads and could claim his first global title after a near miss in Guiyang last year when he finished second to Kamworor.

Karoki is unbeaten at 10km and the half marathon and has broken the one-hour mark three times for the longer distance.

But while Farah and Kamworor have been preparing specifically for this race, Karoki might not have been afforded the luxury of easing off the mileage too much as he is preparing for his marathon debut in London next month.

The rest of the Kenyan team is made up of Simon Cheprot, Edwin Kipyego and Edwin Kiptoo, all of whom have PBs of 59:30 or quicker and will be looking to prise the team title away from Eritrea.

-Fast women-

In the corresponding women’s race the Kenyans achieved an unprecedented feat at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen by filling the top five places. With a close to full-strength team in Cardiff, Kenya is expected to dominate proceedings in a similar manner this time around.

The team might not be laden with household names, but they boast lifetime bests ranging from 1:06:04 to 1:07:17. All but one of the quintet have set their lifetime bests in the build-up to these championships with three of the team setting those times at the prestigious race in Ras Al Khaimah which more or less acted as a de facto trial race for Cardiff.

The winner on that day was Cynthia Limo, one of the most consistent and prolific road racers in recent years. The 26-year-old secured a place on her first Kenyan team by stopping the clock in one of the fastest times in history of 1:06:04 to defeat 2014 world half marathon champion Gladys Cherono, who has elected to forego her title defence in order to focus on the London Marathon next month.

But despite being among select company on the world all-time lists with only Mary Keitany (1:05:50) and Florence Kiplagat (1:05:09) ahead of her, Limo doesn’t have sole ownership on the mantle of pre-race favourite.

In another fast race at the start of the season, Limo had to settle for second at the Houston Half Marathon – 1:06:29 to 1:06:41 – behind Mary Wacera, who set a North American all-comers’ record in that race.

Wacera took the individual silver medal behind Cherono two years ago and such is the strength in depth in Kenyan distance running, the 27-year-old is the only returning member of the team which swept the board in Copenhagen.

The remainder of the Kenyan team comprises Peris Chepchirchir, Gladys Chesire and Paskalia Kipkoech.

Jepchirchir and Chesire placed fourth and fifth in Ras Al Khaimah in 1:06:39 and 1:06:58 respectively while Kipkoech, who is the most experienced of the quintet with a bronze medal dating back to 2012, holds the world-leading mark at 10km with 31:14.

Report sourced from iaaf.org

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