- Geoffrey Kamworor has retired from track and cross country races.
- According to the Kaptagat based runner, he will focus on road running in the upcoming season.
- Kamworor won several cross country and track titles since making his international debut in 2011.
Multiple half marathon championships world champion Geoffrey Kamworor has ditched track and cross country races.
Kamworor made the decision in order to avoid injuries which have negatively impacted his road running career.
According to the 32-year-old athlete, not even his bosses at the National Police Service (NPS) can make him change his mind.
“Even if my employer requests me to compete for them in the coming national cross country championships, I won’t wear spikes. I will rather wear my running shoes,” he was quoted by Athletics News.
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Kamworor added that the move will help him thrive in road races particularly marathons in the eagerly anticipated 2025 season.
“My body shape is back to where I wanted it to be, and now I have to trade carefully to avoid any injury that might hinder my set goals.
I won’t participate in any cross country meetings because I want to be injury free when the next season starts,” he explained.
Kamworor’s Excellent Cross Country Record
Kamworor had a stellar track and cross country career that saw him win numerous medals for the country.
His first international cross country title came in 2011, where he triumphed in the junior category in an event that was staged in Punta Umbria, Spain.
The talented runner cut the tape in 22:11 to win the 8km race ahead of Uganda’s Thomas Ayeko and his fellow countryman Patrick Mutunga Mwikya, who crossed the finishing line in 22:27 and 22:32 respectively.
He later went on to win two consecutive senior titles in the 2015 and 2017 World Cross Country Championships held in Guiyang, China and Kampala, Uganda in that order.
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In Guiyang, Kamworor employed his trademark front-running strategy that saw him cross the finishing line in 34:52. He was followed by his compatriot Bedan Karoki (35:00) and Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris (35:06) in the 12km race.
Two years later, he overcame a spirited fight from the likes of home boy Joshua Cheptegei to successfully defend his title.
Kamworor showed his opponents dust in the final kilometer and went on to cut the tape in 28:24 in a race that another Kenyan runner Leonard Barsoton (28:36) narrowly edged out Ethiopia’s Abadi Hadis (28:43) to finish second.
At the track level, the man who trains under the watchful eyes of the legendary coach Patrick Sang, did not have considerable success.
His best performance came in the 2015 Beijing world championships where he settled for a silver medal in the 10000m discipline behind Great Britain’s Mo Farah.
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