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Kiprop to lead galaxy of Kenyan stars to Eugene Diamond League meet

Xinhua, May 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya' s Asbel Kiprop will be the man to beat in the Bowerman Mile field at the third stop of the IAAF Diamond League meet at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in the USA.

Kiprop is currently the world' s top miler. At 26, he has already won four major gold medals, the first as a 19-year-old at the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 1500m.

Last year he won his third consecutive world title at the distance, equaling the achievement of world record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco.

Kiprop, who won the Diamond Race in 2010 and 2015, has won the Bowerman Mile three times. This summer in Rio, Kiprop hopes to become the first Kenyan to win two Olympic 1500m titles.

His campaign kicked off with a great start, winning the 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha last weekend in a world-leading 3:32.15.

"I always try and focus on the race at hand and not the biggest race the season has. Now we are talking about Eugene Diamond League meet and I believe I have shown that I have regained my form after the recess," he said on Tuesday from Eldoret.

However, the former Olympic champion believes he will not be going for the record because the end game is not to burn out early prior to the Olympics.

"The world record will just fall into place. We do not brag about it because everything has to be perfect," he added.

Another Kenyan Silas Kiplagat, a two-time Diamond Race winner, will also be returning to Eugene.

Throughout their careers, Kiplagat and Kiprop have faced each other 35 times in the 1500m and mile, and Kiprop owns an 18-17 edge. In the Bowerman Mile, however, Kiplagat has a 3-2 lead.

There is also upcoming Elijah Manangoi, who came out of nowhere last year to give Kiprop his most recent challenge.

He set a personal best time of 3:29.67 in Monaco before taking the silver medal behind Kiprop in Beijing. In Eugene, the 23-year-old will be contesting his first ever mile race.

Ayanleh Souleiman will be defending his Bowerman Mile title, having won it last year for the second time in his career. His previous victory came in 2014 when he set a meeting record of 3:47.32.

The 2014 world indoor 1500m champion and 2013 world 800m bronze medallist set a world indoor 1000m record earlier this year.

Kenya' s Ronald Kwemoi broke the world junior 1500m record in 2014 with a time of 3:28.81 before going on to take medals at the Commonwealth Games and the African Championships later that year. He set a mile personal best time of 3:52.57 in Eugene last year.

Commonwealth champion James Magut has twice won the international mile in Eugene. In 2014 he contested the Bowerman Mile at Hayward Field and set a lifetime best of 3:49.43. Endit