After years of battling injuries, two-time New York Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor says he’s finally finding his rhythm again — and 2025 is shaping up to be his resurgence season.
Nicknamed 'The Tank' for his relentless drive and front-running prowess, Kamworor has endured a string of misfortunes that would have ended most elite careers.
But true to his warrior spirit, the 32-year-old is clawing his way back to the top, one race at a time.
His troubles began on June 27, 2020, when a motorcycle struck him during a routine training run, leaving him with a fractured tibia that required surgery.
But Kamworor returned just seven months later to win the 10km race at the Kenya Police Cross Country Championships in 29:22 — a defiant comeback from what many feared was a career-ending blow.
Later in June 2021, he punched his ticket to the Tokyo Olympics after winning the 10,000m Kenyan Trials in 27:01.
But his Olympic dreams were dashed again — this time by an untimely ankle injury that ruled him out of the Games.
Still, Kamworor wasn’t done. He shifted focus back to the roads, finishing fourth at the Valencia Marathon in December 2021 with an impressive 2:05:23.
In 2022, he placed 18th in Boston (2:11:49) and finished a strong fifth at the World Championships in Eugene (2:07:14).
In 2023, he ran just one race — the London Marathon— where he clocked 2:04:23 to finish second behind the late Kelvin Kiptum (2:01:25), holding off Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola (2:04:59).
However, just before the 2023 New York Marathon set for November 5, Kamworor was sidelined once again — this time with a pelvic stress fracture picked up during training in Kaptagat.
And early in 2024, he was forced to skip London due to hip flexor irritation. His return came in November 2024 in New York, where he finished fifth in 2:08:50 — a sign that The Tank was slowly revving up again.
Despite the injury setbacks, Kamworor highlighted the importance of a good team, which has been crucial in his resurgence and performance since the start of the 2025 season.
"Coming back from an injury is crucial when you have a good team around you. Normally, when I get an Injury, I always come back strongly because I have a good team behind me. Having good physios and combining that with the coach's advice on which programmes to start with to manage the injury," Kamworor told the NN Running team.
The 2025 season has marked a true revival for Kamworor.
He stormed to victory at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 13, clocking 2:04:33 to fend off Ethiopia’s Chala Regasa (2:05:06) and Chimdessa Debele (2:05:26).
He followed that up with a commanding performance at the Barcelona Half Marathon, finishing second in 58:44 behind Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who shattered the World half-marathon record with a jaw-dropping 56:42.
Kamworor noted that he is now back stronger and much better, and he is eying more accolades this season.
"Every time I come back from an injury, I have determination that I can still do it, and I always come back stronger," he added. Despite the excitement, Kamworor is still cautious not to push far beyond his limits, risking another injury.
"Coming back from an injury, you feel great and excited, but again that puts you at a risk because you feel you are injury-free and want to push your limits," he stated.
Kamworor noted that a fracture was the most difficult injury to come back from. "The most difficult injury to come back from is the fractures because you have to stop running entirely for eight weeks, and that is a lot of time."
Kamworor’s career is decorated with accolades that cement his place among Kenya’s long-distance greats. He owns two New York Marathon titles (2017 – 2:10:53 and 2019 – 2:08:13) and was runner-up in 2015 (2:10:48).
He is a three-time World Cross Country champion — twice at senior level — 2015 Guiyang (34:52) and 2017 Kampala (28:24) — and once as a junior — 2011 Punta Umbria (22:21).
On the roads, he has claimed three World Half Marathon titles — Copenhagen 2014 (59:08), Cardiff 2016 (59:10), and Valencia 2018 (1:00:02).
On the track, Kamworor was the silver medallist in the 10,000m at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing (27:01.76), narrowly edged by Britain’s Mo Farah (27:01.13).
