The impact of Stephen Kiprotich’s marathon gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games is being felt with now Ugandan having more than 10 elite marathoners.
That has increased the competition for places to global championship events and as it stands, about nine faces are in the quest for the three available marathon tickets to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
On Sunday, Jackson Kiprop brightened his chances for Tokyo by setting a new personal best (PB) time of two hours, eight minutes and 41 seconds as he took fourth place at the Mumbai Marathon in India.
Champion in Mumbai with then a course record of 2:09:32 in 2013 and eighth in 2016, Kiprop returned with verve and got a fifth 10th-place finish.
Ethiopian Derara Hurisa lowered the Mumbai Marathon course record further by winning in 2:08:09.
Kiprop only fell from the front pack with 3km left, one which had been trimmed from 18 men at the 10km in 30:01 minutes to just three individuals at the 39km mark.
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The 33-year-old is now fifth in the pecking order for Ugandan marathoners to Tokyo and his new PB is pushing his management to schedule him another race as the qualification window ends on May 31.
“His performance shows Kiprop can also go for the top three positions to Tokyo. I think there is a good chance he will run in April but it’s up to him to decide,” said his manager Jurrie van der Velden.
Hours after Kiprop, another marathoner Geoffrey Kusuro got his third straight podium with second place at the Santa Pola Half-Marathon after covering the 21km distance in 59 minutes and 56 seconds behind Kenyan Alexander Munyao.
Kusuro, currently sixth in the quest for a ticket to Tokyo with 2:08:46 when he won the Kobe Marathon in Japan last November, is in preparations for the Barcelona Marathon due March 15.
The 30-year-old had won the Montbéliard to Belfort Half-Marathon in France in September before Kobe.
2020 MUMBAI MARATHON MEN’S RESULTS
1 Derara Hurisa (ETH) 2:08:09
2 Ayele Abshero (ETH) 2:08:20
3 Birhanu Teshome (ETH) 2:08:26
4 Jackson Kiprop (UGA) 2:08:41
SANTA POLA HALF-MARATHON MEN’S RESULTS
1 Alexander Munyao (KEN) 59:09
2 Geoffrey Kusuro (UGA) 59:56
3 Vestus Chemjor (KEN) 1:00:47
This writer is a global broadcaster and as well scribe with Daily Monitor Newspaper and sports presenter with Radio One FM 90 in Kampala. Follow him on Twitter: @AllanDarren and his Facebook Page: Darren Allan Kyeyune
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