Geoffrey Kamworor out of Olympic 10,000m
The five-time world champion has been diagnosed with a stress fracture and will not be in Tokyo
Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor will officially miss the Olympic 10,000m. The three-time world half-marathon champion was the gold-medal favourite for the event, but his Olympic dreams have been thwarted by a stress fracture in his foot.
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An MRI on Thursday revealed the injury, which will require at least two weeks to heal, effectively ruling him out of the Olympic Games. In an interview with Capital Sport, Kamworor expressed his heartbreak at being unable to fulfill his Olympic aspirations.
“I am really devastated to be honest because this is something that I had really worked for for a very long time,” he said. “I had sacrificed a lot of time, energy and money to ensure that I am ready, then this happens in the last minutes. It is so heartbreaking.”
Athletics Kenya is reportedly working to have Rhonex Kipruto, the 2018 World Under-20 10,000m champion and 10K world record holder, to replace Kamworor for team Kenya. “We are working with World Athletics to see whether we can have him replace Kamworor,” said Team Kenya General Manager Barnaba Korir in an interview with Capital Sport. “We have sent all the necessary documentation because he had attained the qualification time. We have also sent documents to the AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) to ensure he has passed the strict rules.”
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The final of the men’s 10,000m is scheduled for Friday, July 30.
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