Nairobi — Benson Kipruto says he will be competing at the Olympic Games in Paris, in honour of his great friend, departed world record holder Kevin Kiptum.
Kiptum, who had been on Kenya's long list for the Olympic Games tragically passed away in February following an accident near Kaptagat.
Kipruto has been named in Kenya's final team of three for the Paris Games, and the memories he carries of his friend Kiptum will spur him to seek a podium finish.
He finished second when Kiptum broke the World Record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, the blistering pace allowing him to run a personal best time of 2:04:02, slightly over three minutes behind his friend.
"I will be running in honour of Kiptum. He was a great friend of mine, we shared and talked a lot and was looking forward to the Olympics. I competed with him in Chicago and I know the kind of person he was," Kipruto told Capital Sport.
He added; "As a country, it would be so much of an honour for us if we ensure that we win the Olympics title, in the honour of our great friend."
Donning Kenyan singlet for first time
Kipruto, who recently won the Tokyo Marathon, will be donning the Kenyan singlet for the first time ever, and he has described this as a great honour.
"This really means a lot to me, knowing that I am competing for my country in Paris. I am used to competing in City Marathons but this will be the first time that I am competing for Kenya. I am looking forward to the competition and my ambition is to finish in the podium," Kipruto said.
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He has also described it as a massive opportunity team-mating with reigning champion and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, and has disclosed they will be working as a team to try and sweep the podium.
"Eliud is a great runner and an Olympian and we all want to follow in his footsteps. It is a great thing to be on the same team with him. I have competed against him thrice and I definitely hope to enjoy running. Teamwork will be key in the first part of the race then in the last part maybe, individual work will do," noted Kipruto.
Kipruto under no pressure
He adds that he is under no pressure heading to the Olympics, saying he will not have any nerves as the Olympics are almost similar to the big races he has already competed in.
Kipruto has won in Boston (2021) and Chicago (2022) and also has a pair of third place finishes in the former (2022, 2023) and a second place finish in Chicago from 2023. He also won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2018 and the Prague Marathon in 2021.
He has already started his preparation and believes he will line up a good plan to be ready.
"I will maybe run in a small 10km race before then, but at the moment, I am concentrating more on the preparation. Each race is different and this will not be the same like the others," he added.
