NAIROBI: World 3000m steeplechase champion and Olympic gold medallist Conseslus Kipruto said on Saturday he would not be competing in next week’s season-opening Diamond League in Monaco after testing positive for coronavirus.
The 25-year-old was among 11 elite Kenyan athletes granted visas to compete in the August 14 race but was forced to bow out after undergoing mandatory screening for the illness.
Kipruto, the defending Olympic and world championship title holder, was tested on Friday at a hospital in the western city of Eldoret.
“It is unfortunate that the test… came back positive, and therefore I can’t be part of the team,” he told AFP.
“It’s very disappointing that having trained so hard through this pandemic-induced period, I may not be able to compete this year. But my health is more important.”
Kipruto said he had no symptoms, and was awaiting further advice from his doctors.
The women’s 3000m steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech, world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Hellen Obiri, the two-time women’s 5000m champion, are among the Kenyan squad travelling to the Principality for the competition.