With Olympic Games 3,000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto out of Friday's Monaco Diamond League after testing positive for coronavirus, world under 20 3,000m silver medalist Leonard Bett will be the only Kenyan to feature in the race as athletics returns into action.
Bett said he will fight to represent the country to the best of his ability and promised athletes who will miss the event, including Kipruto, that they are in good hands.
Abraham Kibiwott and Vincent Kipchumba (pace) were the other Kenyans in the race but since they train with Kipruto, they were not allowed to travel.
Bett said he is hoping for a better race after finishing outside the top three since his Diamond League debut in two years ago.
“In 2018, I competed at the Birmingham and Zurich meetings while in 2019, I ran in Doha where I finished third then fourth in Rabat,” Bett told The Star while in Turkey in transit to France.
“I have built a name in the steeplechase and I want to do my best. I have been training hard for endurance after graduating to the senior category. The transition is not easy and needs a lot of hard work.”
The 2017 World under 18 2,000m steeplechase champion said Monaco will also be a good place to gauge himself after staying for long without proper competition due to the coronavirus-imposed lockdowns.
