Olympic marathon bronze medallist Benson Kipruto is hungry for another shot in Kenyan colours, with eyes fixed on the September World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
Kipruto made his Team Kenya and Olympic Games debut in Paris last year, where he stormed to bronze in 2:07:00, behind Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola (2:06:26) and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi (2:06:47).
The 33-year-old had punched his ticket to Paris after a commanding run at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, where he clocked 2:02:16 to lead a Kenyan sweep of the podium alongside Timothy Kiplagat (2:02:55) and Vincent Ngetich (2:04:18).
Kipruto dreams of returning to the Japanese capital, this time to chase global honours at the World Championships slated for September 13–21.
“My target for this year is to represent Kenya at the World Championships and get a podium finish at a major marathon,” Kipruto said.
He is well under the 2:06:30 entry standard for the Tokyo showpiece. However, he remains tight-lipped on his next outing. “You will be seeing me soon in one of the major marathons. I will reveal that at a later date,” he shared.
Kipruto is loading the mileage and working on key aspects, like speed, to stay sharp for the assignments ahead.
“I want to get more mileage and sharpen up some other key areas in my training, like speed. I am targeting a podium in the next major marathon I race in,” he noted.
Kipruto’s 2025 season opener was back in Tokyo on March 2, where he fell short in his title defence, settling for seventh place in 2:05:46.
The Ethiopian duo of Tadese Takele (2:03:32) and Deresa Geleta (2:03:51) took the top two spots, while Ng'etich secured third spot in 2:04:00.
The weather conditions, he said, were his biggest challenge. “Tokyo was not that good this year. The weather was not favourable for me, my body did not respond well. My performance was not that good, but that is also a learning curve,” he said.
Despite the early setback, Kipruto says he’s back in peak condition after a short break. “I have recovered well and am preparing for my next marathon. I took a slight break after Tokyo, but I started my training a few weeks back with the build-up,” he noted.
Adding to his motivation is his recent recognition at the 2024 Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA), in the Sportsman of the Year category, where he finished third. “I have never been nominated for the SOYA awards, but I am glad I finished third this year. Being recognised means a lot to me. It will motivate me going forward,” he stated.
He trailed the winner, Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi.
