Italian athletics coach Renato Canova believes Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto is the only one who can break the 12-year-old steeplechase world record currently held by Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen.
Canova, who catapulted Shaheen to the current world 3,000m steeplechase world record of 7:53.63, is well conversant with training methodology.
Speaking in an exclusive interview in Eldoret, Canova who has produced several world beaters, tipped Kipruto to beat the world record, saying he is the only one with the kind of talent and attitude to beat the mark.
“Kipruto currently is the only talented steeplechaser in Kenya and going by that, he is the only one who can smash the world record in his speciality. He has talent and attitude for it,” he explained.
Canova observed that Kipruto had problems breaking the record in his first attempt in Brussels recently because it came on the back of his triumph in Rio Olympics.
“He was completely empty and finished after running the Olympics and it was very difficult for him to break the record. Maybe if he had lost it, then it would have been good for him to strategise but he gave it his all in Rio,” he added.
Canova said to achieve the record feat next year, Kipruto will have to plan his races. “ He will need to plan for three Diamond Leagues races next year if he is to surpass the mark,” he said. Kipruto currently has a personal best of 8:00.12; about 8 seconds shy of the record. He said trying to run 7:58 and 7:56 minutes first will be a wise idea and good approach to break the world mark.
“If he goes only for three Diamond League races, it will be easy for him to break it. But he has to try and run 7:58 minutes in his first attempt then 7:56 minutes in his second attempt and then go for full record in the third attempt,” Canova noted. He said Shaheen had different confidence and knowledge of beating the record after posting impressive performances. “Shaheen ran 7:58 and 7:56 minutes before setting the 7:53 world record,” he explained. The 2007 world 3000m steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto missed the WR record by 0.1 seconds in the year 2011 after clocking his current personal best of 7:53.64.
“Kipruto missed the record by hundredth of a second in his career because we had strong competitiors like Paul Koech in the race,” he said.
The Italian tactician said the problem now is the level of competition and it will be hard getting good pace setters, who can trigger the record.
“We faced the same problem with Shaheen because if you look at the 2006, he was much stronger than the year 2004 when he broke the record. The problem is that pacers were not at the same level,” he added.
“But to find strong pacers is very important if one is to break the world record. At the moment, Kipruto is the only one at the top and there is no one to match his level of competition and that is a challenge. However, Kipruto has to look for strong pacers,” he added.