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Nearly four days after winning the men’s title at the 2022 Great North Run held in North East England, talented Ugandan distance runner Jacob Kiplimo has confirmed his entry for the Delhi Half Marathon, to be held on October 16.
“It is always dangerous to make predictions about what you are going to do, but what I can say is that with a month to go, I will focus on preparing specifically for the Delhi race over the next few weeks,” Kiplimo said in a statement on Thursday.
The organizers of the Delhi Half Marathon have announced Kiplimo’s entry in the elite foreign 21km race. The names of the other elite runners are yet to be revealed.
The elite field generally comprises dozens of elite foreign athletes, mainly from East African nations, including Ethiopia and Kenya. It will, however, be the first time a top athlete of Kiplimo's stature will compete in the Delhi road racing circuit.
At the Great North Run held on September 11, the 21-year-old clocked 59:33.66 seconds ahead of Ethiopian Olympic champion Selemon Barega and star distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, who finished third.
The versatile Ugandan distance runner won the 10,000m and 5,000m gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games held last month in Great Britain. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medalist in men’s 10,000m also won the 2020 edition of the World Half Marathon.
Kiplimo won the 10,000m bronze medal at the Eugene World Athletics Championships held in July as well.
Ethiopia’s Amdework Walelegn set the Delhi Half Marathon record of 58:53 in 2020. The Ugandan Olympic medalist believes he could race faster next month.
“I had a successful track season and would have liked to have done better at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. But I have not raced too much this year, so I am still fresh and I want to show the people of Delhi and India what I am capable of,” Kiplimo said.
Read: Jacob Kiplimo - the other Ugandan medal hope
