Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon changed her training base from Keringeti to Kaptagat in a bid to achieve maximum results at the World Championships last year in Doha
The world 1,500m silver medallist said after maternity leave, she was forced to change her coach in order to gain her shape faster.
"I now train in Kaptagat under coach Patrick Sang alongside athletics greats led by world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, two time New York City marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor and former world 3,000m steeplechase champion Hyvin Kiyeng," she noted.
The two-time world cross country junior champion said the change was good as she made an impact almost immediately .
"As you know, I won a silver at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar last September, losing to Netherland’s Sifan Hassan. I have no regrets of making the move," she quipped.
Kipyegon added: "I was in a hurry to return from maternity leave and prepare for World Championships. Therefore, I wanted a good coach and I got Patrick (Sang) who gave me a good programme that bore good results,” she said.
The former world junior 1,500m champion said her Doha preparations were done in a hurry but heading to Tokyo, she hopes to be even more stronger than she was in Qatar.
“After I changed my coach to Patrick Sang and achieved good results. I must thank Sang for the good programme he gave me as I ran my personal best of 3:54.2. I hope to improve it further this year and I seek to defend my title at the Tokyo Olympic Games. I had faith that I was going to do well after maternity leave and I am happy this came to pass," she added.
She said in Doha, she ran with an injury but she is happy that it has since healed.“I was undecided on whether to run or not due to the injury but at the end of the day, I am happy I ran and won silver,” explained the 2017 world 1,500m champion.
Kipyegon revealed she is now okay and her focus is tightly on the Olympic Games later in the year.
“I know this is an Olympic year and I am already back in training. I can’t talk much about Sifan but I look forward to meeting her again in Tokyo. I know defending my title will not be easy as things have changed a lot but I will give it my best shot,” she said.
“I started training in 2018 and ran well in 2019. I did not lose track while on leave and I hope to take my training a gear higher. She revealed that she has no plans of shifting from 1,500m.
