Cheruiyot eyes Tokyo Olympic marathon title after London conquest

NAIROBI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- London marathon champion Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya will not rest on her laurels and targets a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Cheruiyot, who already has a gold medal in 5,000m from Rio Games, said on Monday her win in London marathon on Sunday has only reinvigorated her faith and trust that she is destined for better days in her career in the 42km distance.

"Tokyo Olympics will be the beginning of another brilliant era in my career," said Cheruiyot.

However, Cheruiyot believes she will be reminded of the journey she needs to travel in the next marathon because any athlete is only best as her last competition.

"London is now behind me. I have to focus on the next challenge and that is to win another race and gain more experience. After that, I can start talking of world record and Olympics," she added.

Indeed, Cheruiyot's victory in London, clocking 2:18:31, was her second in the distance since she transferred from the track competition a year ago.

Her first race in London in 2017 ended with a fourth place finish in a race won by compatriot Mary Keitany. She went to Frankfurt, Germany and was able to win last October and returned to London to win.

"I have no plans to run a world record. Though I believe it is something that can go down," she said. However, she believes she has about six years to run in marathon.

"I have heard some reports that I will retire after 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. That is not true. Maybe I will hang my spikes in 2025," said Cheruiyot. Enditem