• George, who will be making his debut is eager to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, his mentor and whose title he wants to take back to the family.
• George, who has a personal best of 3:31.49, singled out Cheruiyot as the pre-race favorite owing to his vast experience.
Besides representing the country, World U-20 1,500m champion George Manangoi will seek to fit into his sibling, Elijah Manang’oi’s shoes when their speciality starts at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar today.
George, who will be making his debut is eager to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, his mentor and whose title he wants to take back to the family.
The world champion withdrew from the championships due to an ankle injury sustained during a training session, leaving his younger brother, 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi and world silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot to fly the Kenyan flag.
“I have two responsibilities at the championships; to represent the country and my brother who did not make it after suffering an injury just before the event,” said George.
“Eli is the defending champion and it will only be fair if we give our best and retain the gold medal as well as extend our dominance in the race. He gave me tips on how to conquer and encouraged me to put a spirited fight in the heats and the final too.”
George, who has a personal best of 3:31.49, singled out Cheruiyot as the pre-race favourite owing to his vast experience. He, however, wants to against the odds and make it to the podium. He denied being under pressure to live up to the expectations.
“Timothy is in good shape and starts as one of the favourite but all the same my target is to finish on the podium. It’s my first time to be at this level and my wish to announce myself with a resounding performance which will yield the gold but any medal is welcome. We have had good preparations and I am fired up for the new challenge.”
Kenya has bagged four medals thus far through Ruth Chepngetich and Beatrice Chepkoech, who won their respective marathon and 3,000m steeplechase races. Agnes Tirop and Ferguson Rotich have bronze medals from the 10,000m and 800m races respectively.