Stuart Weir wrote this piece on the fine Kenyan middle distance runner, Asbel Kiprop, who has seen his star shine bright, and at major championships, seen the star shine not as bright as some might expect. Kiprop is coming back into shape, and Stuart Weir considers his fitness and what he contributes to the global racing scene with his fearless running.
In the instagram picture below, the man with Asbel Kiprop is one of the keenest observers of our sport, Maurie Plant.
Asbel Kiprop
In the 1500 metres in the Bauhaus Galan Diamond League in Stockholm, Asbel Kiprop finished fourth but declared himself delighted with his performance. I find it hardto listen to the man who has dominated 1500 metre running for so long expressing satisfaction with fourth place.
Remember this is the man who the World Championship in 2011, 2013 and again in 2015 to add to his 2008 Olympic gold, the man who was unbeaten at 1500 for 12 months in 2015-16.But then he lost in that unbeaten record in Monaco last year and only finished sixth in Rio.
He said of his 3:33.17 in Stockholm: “The race was good. This is the first time under 3:40 this year. I had 3.42 so 3:33 is a huge improvement compared to Eugene. I am improving in terms of time and position”.
Looking at the bigger picture, he added: “I have not been well and I started training a little bit late for the season. I didn’t want to start too early but I think I have caught up with time and training. I have a lot of confidence and faith that I can defend the world title. After one month’s good training, I will be ready to run in London.”
His Olympic gold came when he was 19, but not in a very satisfactory way. He finished second behind Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain but when Ramzi was disqualified following a positive test for a banned substance, Kiprop got the gold medal but it was a bittersweet moment: “It was good but it didn’t even happen that I won it live on the track. I was given the medal afterwards. It would have been even better if I had won the Olympics live on track so I am still chasing the dream – winning the Olympics on the track. That is what I am longing for, what I am really hungry for. I really want to do at and hope I will one day.” However he was struggling with a hamstring injury in 2012 and while he reached the final at the London Olympics, he could make no impression on that Olympic Final.
In 2016 he was sixth in his third Olympic final. He received a lot of criticism of his race plan. Comments like “Horrible tactics cost Kiprop the race” appeared in the press and social media. The armchair experts felt that he was too far off the pace and used up his energy making up ground in the last lap. Others said that a man capable of running 3:26 should not lose a race in 3:50.His social media reaction showed that these comments hurt.
Kiprop grew up in a village near Eldoret. His father, David, ran for Kenya in the 1987 All Africa Games in the 1500 and later ran marathons. Asbel like most Kenyans began running at school. He says: “In fact running has always been a part of my life. I have had many years of running since I was 13 years old”.
He trains mainly in Kenya – in Iten or Eldoret: “My training begins in November building up all the way to March or April when we start the speed work. I train with a team including James Kiplagat Magut who was the Commonwealth Champion in 1500 and other good guys. It is an advantage that we have endurance but also the company of guys who run 3:30 and the Commonwealth Champion so we have a good training team and programme”.
Training is varied: “We encounter a lot of miles with endurance, strength and speed work. It’s not that we concentrate on specific training but we mix it up. We do a lot of mileage and we do strength work and lots of exercises. There is speed endurance and sometimes pure speed. To develop speed, once we finish longer sessions on the track we go to shorter ones, 200 – five or six times – and 100s and 50s times six – sprints and kicks to help with the finishing power in championship races”.
Let’s hope he can make up for the lost of training and make the London 2017 starting line in a position to be competitive, The race would be the poorer without a fit and competitive Kiprop.
