World 5000m silver medalist Margaret Chelimo admits it will take more than just the absence of double world champion Hellen Obiri for her to dominate the 12-lap race.
Before the Tokyo Olympics this year, Obiri had stated her intention to transition to road races after much success on track during which she has clinched two Olympic silver medals to add to her two world titles — won in London (2017) and Doha (2019).
"Dominating such a race is not as easy as one might think. You still need to work hard because there are other athletes who are just as good whereas other young ones are coming up," Chelimo said.
Chelimo timed a personal best of 14:27.29 in Doha to finish second behind Obiri (14:26.72)with German Konstanze Klosterhalfen (14:28.43) in third place.
She is targeting a better performance at next year's World Championship in Oregon, United States where she hopes to go one better than her silver from Qatar.
"First, my mission is to clinch my place in the team to represent the country at the World Championships. So after a few weeks of relaxation, it will be time to head back to training. Next year is not so far. Once I make it to Oregon, the target will be to do better than Doha," Chelimo said.
Chelimo concluded the season with a perfect win in the women's 5000m race at last Saturday's Kip Keino Classic, timing 14:55.27 ahead of Eva Cherono (15:12.16) and Lillian Kasait (15:17.71).
"The race was not as easy as I had earlier thought. Everyone gave their best and I am glad that I managed to kick in the last lap and cross the finish line first," she said.
Meanwhile, as Chelimo ends her season, Cherono will not be resting as she prepares to compete at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on October 17.
"I am glad because my performance (at the Kip Keino Classic) was a massive improvement from the last, where I finished fifth. My body had not yet adjusted to the change in pace and so I could not kick as fast as Chelimo did in the last lap," Cherono said.
She, however, admitted more work needs to be done before she can dominate future races.
"Overall, the year has been a success considering I set a personal best of 14:30.07. I still need to work on my speed in the last 400m."
