Kenya's Kamworor aims to retain world cross title

Suspense is building up in the Kenya camp over the selection of the senior men's team for the world cross country athletics championships in Kampala, Uganda, in March 2017.

Men's 12km defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor has confirmed that he will be putting his title on the line and hopes to be part of the Kenyan team in Kampala, reports Xinhua.

"The season is over for me but my plan for next year is to first defend my world cross country title. It is every athletes' dream to win and start strongly in a season," he said on Monday.

However, after his failed mission to dethrone England's Mo Farah at the Rio Olympics in the 10,000m, Kamworor hopes he can defeat his rival in his own homestead in London in 2017 during the World Championships.

"I have started my build up and I will weigh my options and I will no doubt feature in the AK series, where I will be looking for speed and endurance. But the focus is to start strong with cross country and then turn the focus to world championships in London," Kamworor said.

"I still have the challenge to beat Mo Farah on the track. He knows my intention and we have fought severally with his turning out stronger. I believe by August, I will have enough strength to do just that," he added.

--IANS

tri/bg