Triple Olympic champion in 1500m Faith Kipyegon has decried the lack of a training tartan track for athletes, which has negatively affected training programmes for many athletes.
Speaking as he arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Monday night, Kipyegon bemoaned the ongoing lack of these facilities across the country could make it more difficult for athletes to train for the September Tokyo World Athletics Championships.
“My first message is to the government of Kenya: the challenge we are going through about the tracks. I prepared for the track in tarmac. I didn’t have a track across the county where I could train, where I could prepare so well to go and do my best. But it was quite challenging; sometimes I could change my programme from going to a track session because of rain and , you know, I went through a lot of challenges, but I hope this message going forward to preparation for the world championship will be very hard for us to train. If we train towards the world championship, it will be a very tough task if athletes don’t train on track.” Said Kipyegon
Kipyegon lowered her 1500m world record for a third year running, setting a new record of 3 minutes 48.68 seconds in her 1st Diamond League race in 1500m this season in Eugene.
“I actually like this message to reach the government to help us to come out of these challenges because if we could have good tracks around our facilities, I think we could have a big sport in various counties. “she added
The 31-year-old also announced that she intends to double in both 1500m and 5000m during the 20th World Athletics Championships this September.
“Am now preparing for the World Championships I think it possible to double 1500m and 5000m.”Kipyegon stated
