Former world 5,000m and 10,000m champion and Olympic medallist Vivian Cheruiyot seeks a return to form when she competes in her first track race in nearly two years at the Prefontaine Classic on Friday.
The 31-year-old Kenyan took time off to have a baby after the London Olympics and missed defending her world titles at the 2013 athletics championships in Moscow.
Cheruiyot ran two personal best records at Prefontaine in Eugene, Oregon in 2009 and 2011, and she believes the venue will provide the best launching pad for her ahead of the Beijing world championships in August.
“I am going to Eugene to gauge on my performance. This is my first race on the track in nearly two years and having a good performance there will be very important”, Cheruiyot told AFP from her training base in Eldoret.
Cheruiyot is planning to concentrate only in the 5,000m this year, the same race she set a Prefontaine course record of 14:33.66 in 2011, and she is lined up to challenge Ethiopia’s two-time world indoor champion, Genzebe Dibaba on Friday.
“The Ethiopians have always been my tough competitors,” said Cheruiyot, whose on-track rivalry with Dibaba’s elder sister, Tirunesh, and her compatriot Meseret Defar helped to light up the women’s distance running in the past.
Cheruiyot will compete in Eugene, fresh from her victory in the inaugural women’s FNB 12km race in Cape Town on May 17.