Olympic Games 1,500m silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot plans to go back to school to further his studies after he was recently promoted to the rank of Senior Superintendent of Prisons (SSP).
The Kenya Prisons officer said the job comes with additional responsibilities, which require exceptional leadership skills to execute his role effectively.
"I was given the mandate to be a leader and this comes with additional responsibilities. So, I need to learn more. I want to go back to school and further my studies. Above all, I am happy with the new position and thank the president for identifying my talent and handing me the promotion,” the world 1,500m champion said.
Cheruiyot also expects more bumps ahead as he seeks to juggle his new position with his athletics career especially as 2022 will be an action-packed calendar for athletes.
"It takes a lot. I need to work harder and I know by next year, we have the world championships and if I do well, I may get another rank. I am happy about the medal I got at the Olympic Games. It was challenging to be at the Olympics but I was fortunate to be in the Kenya team," he said.
It has been an eventful year for the lanky runner who dominated the Diamond League series but surprisingly missed out on a ticket to the Tokyo Games after finishing fourth at national Olympics trials.
However, he received a reprieve after Kamar Etyang was barred from the Games following his failure to undergo three mandatory anti-doping tests in the lead-up to the trials.
Reminiscing the series of events, Cheruiyot expressed his happiness at clinching an Olympics silver, let alone making it to the quadrennial games.
"You know the drama that engulfed me before going to Tokyo but in all those, I won a medal, which was not easy at all but the nation was happy," the Rongai Athletics Club runner said.
The explained that it was challenging for him to make the Olympics team but once he reached the Games, he managed to win silver even after failing to get an automatic qualification.
Despite being an Olympics favourite, Cheruiyot lost out to long-time rival, Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten, who won with an Olympic record of 3:28.32.
“After I crossed the finish line, I gave Jakob a bracelet to show that togetherness in sports and we need to maintain our friendship despite competing,” added Cheruiyot.
