Kenya' s Kiyeng puts world record assault on ice, focusing on Olympics

World 3,000m steeplechase champion Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya will not push herself to set a new world record prior to the Rio Olympics, in spite of being in her best ever form this season.

Kiyeng 24, is in fact seeking to cut down the number of races she will honour in the build-up to the Rio Olympics in August as she focuses on winning the gold medal for Kenya.

"I am inspired and fit to run a fast time, but I have to watch carefully not to burn out. I have to watch where to run and how to run so that I do not exert more pressure on my body that may be of negative influence to me ahead of the Olympics," she said Wednesday from Eldoret.

Like many other Kenyan runners, Kiyeng hopes to run only one race in Stockholm on Saturday and return home to prepare for the national trials to select the team to Rio Games. This is how serious she is focusing on the Olympics, even though she is already qualified as a world champion.

Last year' s Beijing World Championships was the climax of Kiyeng' s career in the absence of the injured Milcah Chemos as she rose up to claim gold at the Bird' s Nest Stadium in the Chinese Capital to beat German Gesa Felicitas Krause and Tunisia' s Habiba Ghribi.

"I had confidence, but it was not easy because I really had to fight," said Kiyeng. Since winning the world title, Kiyeng' s confidence has soared.

She has taken a grip of this season' s Diamond Race standings with wins in Shanghai and Oslo, though her most noteworthy performance came when placing second in Eugene (USA) clocking 9:00.01, just 0.04 behind the Bahraini teenager Ruth Jebet, to catapult to number three on the all-time world lists.

Despite the defeat, the diminutive steeplechaser remains at the forefront of her event in a sport that has long been a part of Kiyeng's soul.

"I liked athletics since I was very young. I used to buy sports magazines and I liked to read about Kenyan runners like Eliud Kipchoge, Catherine Ndereba and Isabella Ochichi."

Her rise is a mystery to many because until 2011, she had no idea what to become in athletics.

At the All Africa Games in Maputo, she was drafted into the 5,000m team, but an injury to another Kenyan steeplechaser led the team manager to ask if anyone would like to fill the void. Kiyeng, keen to enrich her athletics experience, stepped up and won the gold. The rest is history.

"This year, our focus is all on the Olympics and the Diamond League races can take a break. My aim is to win gold and hopefully my prayers will be answered in Rio," she said.

But for the world record, Kiyeng is will be happy to attempt it after the Olympics. "After Rio, I will decide where to try a world record attempt. I will be inspired," she said. Endit