That night Kipruto beat Soufiane El Bakkali despite losing a shoe on the first lap, twice conceding a break to his opponent, losing ground at the final water-jump and trailing off the final hurdle.
But that was 2018, he faced a severe challenge in 2019. He had to come up with a solution.
It was down to innovation. He built a pool in his back yard, a five meters long, two meters wide, and wedged into a small space at the back of his residence, filled with water.
His training partners lent a hand, all of them keen to see Kipruto arrive in Doha ready to defend his title. Those close to him watched the project unfold and thought he was crazy, but Kipruto never lost sight of the goal.
"I said, 'let me build this pool, let me do (underwater) running and that can make my legs feel strong when I start training. It will not be like beginning'. I put all my effort for the day into the pool," he said, "When I put it all together, I was doing like five hours a day."
In June, he got the all-clear to run on dry land and swiftly felt the payoff. "I texted my manager Michel Boeting when I did the first runs and told him, 'that swimming pool helped me a lot'."
As he began to rebuild his mileage, the only race he had to concern himself with was the one against the clock.
The Paris Diamond League meeting in late August was circled for his comeback, and in training, Kipruto focused primarily on endurance. That race gave him a harsh lesson in the distance he needed to bridge, Kipruto coming home fifth in 8:13.75 as Soufiane El Bakkali took victory in 8:06.64.
【体坛英语资讯:Feature: Kipruto defies odds to retain steeplechase gold】相关文章:
★ 体坛英语资讯:Sharapova rescues Russia, Davenport upstaged
★ 体坛英语资讯:Federer reaches first final of 2008 in clay event
★ 体坛英语资讯:Table tennis queen seeks last Olympic ticket
★ 娱乐英语资讯:Simpson, Fergie, Snow join hands for body project
★ 体坛英语资讯:Inter maintain lead with 2-0 win at Fiorentina
★ 体坛英语资讯:Xinjiang likely to be booted from CBA playoffs for cheating
★ 娱乐英语资讯:Pitt: I maintain a deep friendship with Aniston
★ 体坛英语资讯:Pain-free Yao back on track for Games
★ 体坛英语资讯:CBA struggling to find TV audience
★ 娱乐英语资讯:Diane Krugers baby denial
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15