Former Olympic 800m silver
medallist Nigel Amos has moved his training in Kenya
as he seeks to study the ropes from his tormentor,
Olympic and world champion, David Rudisha.
Heading to the 2012 London Olympics and 2013
World Championships in Moscow, Amos had looked
like the sure bet to dethrone the current world
record holder over the distance but has remained
just another pipe dream.
To master the ways of his
conqueror, the Botswanian has relocated his training
base to Kaptagat with a view of excelling at the next
year’s London IAAF World Championships.
The Commonwealth 800m champion is training at
the Rosa Training Camp in Kaptagat and believes the
high altitude and specifically the rugged-terrain will
be good for his training as he head to the next season.
Amos beat Rudisha in Glasgow’s Commonwealth
Games and the Lausanne Diamond League but all
was not well at last year’s World Championships and
the Rio Olympic Games where he missed out on the
final.
“I had a superb season and I was determined to
perform well in Rio Olympics in a bid to improve on my
silver medal in London 2012 but I was even shocked
when I didn’t make to the final.
I think I was fatigued
because of the Africa championships,” he said. He
observed that his training in Kenya has been rigorous
and he has been doing extra kilometres everyday.
“Per day, I do at least 15km from the 6km I used
to cover back at home. It is really good training here
especially when you go through the forest. I just like
the serene environment. I have already acclimatised
to the high altitude weather,” he said.
He termed
his move to train in Kenya as the best, owing to the
weather and encouragement from the hardworking
athletes.
Having trained in Kenya for a month now,
Amos will travel back home for Christmas celebration
before resuming training in January.