LONDON (Reuters) – Kenya’s four-times world champion Vivian Cheruiyot will skip next month’s world indoor championships to focus on the London Olympics after running her first event of the year in Birmingham on Saturday.
Organisers said on Monday that the 5,000 and 10,000 metres world champion, who also won the 8km title at the world cross country championships last year, would take part in the 3,000m at the British meet.
The event will be her first appearance of the year and only her second since winning the two world championship golds in Daegu, South Korea last August and September.
“I will only run one indoor race this year so this will be a key meet for me – to see how my training has worked over the winter season and to see what I need to do in the next few months,” the 29-year-old said in a statement.
“The Olympics is so important to me, as it is to every athlete, but I think because I was ill in Beijing I’m pushing myself even harder to get a positive result in London.”
Cheruiyot said she would not take part in the world indoor championships in Istanbul because her focus was solely on the London Games which start on July 27.
“Of course it is a shame not to race in a major championship but I want to concentrate on the most important thing for me this year and that is the Olympics,” she said.
