Reigning Laiden 10km champion Nicholas Kimeli and Africa under 20 5,000m silver medalist Jacob Krop have set their eyes on representing the country at the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games set for next year in Oregon, USA and Birmingham, Great Britain respectively.
Kimeli, the reigning Discovery Kenya Cross Country champion, said he is keen on taking a break from cross country to focus on track.
Kimeli, who finished fourth in the 5,000m race during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games, said: “My focus will be to compete at the Athletics Kenya weekend meetings to give myself a chance to represent my country at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships."
"However, when a chance comes to compete at the World Cross country Continental Tour, I will do my best. I have a dream of running for Kenya in many championships."
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson will seek a strong start to her year when she races at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, on 19 February.
The British 800m record-holder is the first leading athlete to announce their intention to compete at the event, which returns to the Utilita Arena Birmingham in the new year.
“I’m so excited to be running at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham,” said the 19-year-old. “It’s going to be one of my big races of the season and I can’t wait to be back in front of a home crowd.
“I had a great indoor season in 2021 and that set me up perfectly for the outdoors and the Olympic Games.
“Competing at home with a big crowd in Birmingham will hopefully set me up for the same in 2022 with some massive major championships on the horizon.”
Hodgkinson made her big breakthrough during the 2021 indoor season. She set a world U20 indoor 800m record in Vienna in January when clocking 1:59.03 and then won 800m gold at the European Indoor Championships in Torun.
Outdoors she claimed a second national title and then in Tokyo she broke Kelly Holmes’ national record with 1:55.88 to win 800m silver on her Olympic debut.
She ended her season with victory at the Weltklasse Zurich meeting, winning the Wanda Diamond League 800m title.
The Muller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham was last staged in 2019, when Hodgkinson’s fellow Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir broke the 31-year-old British mile record.
Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera broke the men’s world 1500m record two years ago and hopes will be high once again for fast times and packed crowds in Birmingham.
