Two-time World Athletics Cross Country champion Geoffrey Kamworor is targeting to reclaim the world title in Bathurst, Australia on Saturday after painfully losing it to Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei during the 2019 edition.

Team Kenya landed in Sydney mid-day yesterday after long hours of travel from Nairobi through Qatar.

Kamworor who won The New York City Marathon in 2019 is upbeat ahead of the Mount Panorama Circuit battle, dreaming big on his quest for a third senior World Cross Country title. “We are ready, we have done all that is possible in training for one month and what is remaining now is just competing in Australia. 

“I am not under any pressure to deliver desired results because I have run many times at cross country races. This is my fifth time and it is something I am used to doing. I know what is expected of me and I am prepared”, Kamworor told People Daily Sports.

The Kaptagat-based long-distance runner remembers how he failed to defend his title in Aarhus, Denmark, finishing third and astonishingly surrendering the gold medal to Ugandan runner Cheptegei.

“That year (2019) was not a good year for me at the World Cross country because I was the defending champion.  I was really wishing to defend that title but it was not possible.  “When we arrived in Aarhus in 2019 we found a lot of challenging hills that we had not expected. We had not prepared for that, this time round we were aware of the course that we were going to encounter in Bathurst.

“We are going to fight for the team title. Our coaches have trained us well and we have done something called groupings that will enable us to score more. 

Last edition

“We are not under any pressure against any opponent and the main focus is to bring home the glory”, confident Kamworor added.

Kenya last won the overall World Cross Country team title in Kampala Uganda in 2017 but was dethroned by Ethiopia in the last edition.

Kamworor’s experience will be vital as team Kenya targets a clean sweep in the senior men’s 10km race.

Also in that team is captain Kibiwott Kandie, a former World Half Marathon record holder.

Kandie,26, has been in top shape on the roads abroad, winning six of his last seven global races. Last year, he claimed his second Valencia Half Marathon win, clocking 58.10.

Olympian Nicholas Kimeli will also be aiming for a podium finish in Bathurst and will be motivated by his good show in Romania last year where he clocked 26:51 to win the Brasov Running Festival.