Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat returns to Barcelona tomorrow with organisers hoping for world record hat-trick.
The IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, has seen half marathon world record performances in the last two years thanks to Kiplagat, with her running the current mark of 1:05:09 in 2015 and also setting world records for 15km (46:14) and 20km (1:01:54) along the way.
Consequently, there are hopes that the 28-year-old Kenyan can make it three-in-a-row tomorrow. However, those ambitions may have to be tempered after she arrived in Barcelona on Thursday morning and revealed that she had been suffering from flu for several weeks, which has hampered her build-up for tomorrow’s event.
In Kiplagat’s own words, a third consecutive world record looks unlikely but her knowledge of the Barcelona circuit and the employment of her favourite pacemaker should give her a fighting chance of producing another cracking performance. As was the case on the past two occasions, Kiplagat will be paced by the Spanish runner Marc Roig, who has even shared some training sessions with her in Kenya during in recent weeks.
Kiplagat stiffest opposition looks set to come from Portugal’s Jessica Augusto, an accomplished road runner who took the marathon bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships. The 2010 European cross country champion will compete in Barcelona eight months after giving birth to her first daughter. It will be her second outing in 2016 following a third place finish at the Portuguese 10km champs three weeks ago in 33:07 Her half marathon best remains at 1:09:08 from back in 2009.
The men’s event has suffered the late withdrawal of Eritrea’s marathon world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, who has suffered a sprain in training.
In his absence, the favourite should be Kenya’s 2011 world championships marathon silver medallist Vincent Kipruto. The 28-year-old has a marathon best of 2:05:13, albeit from 2010, while his last half marathon appearance came in Lille last September when he finished in a career best of 1:00:19.
The Kenyan contingent also includes Elicky Kipchoge Masse, a 1:01:36 performer and the experience Josephat Kiprono Menjo while Europe is represented by Italy’s 2014 European marathon champion Daniele Meucci.