By John Kwoba
NAIROBI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- World marathon record holder Dennis Kimetto of Kenya is not considering hanging up his spikes even as he succumbed to another injury that will see him miss the Boston marathon on April 17.
Kimetto, 33, has not competed since his dismal performance at the Beijing World Championships in 2015. It has been one injury crisis after another, but he believes he still has got the strength left in his sail to deliver a big victory when he gets fit.
"I am not giving up. I am not taking it easy. Very sad not to go to Boston marathon, but I'm confident to be back. One step back, two steps in front," said Kimetto Monday in Eldoret.
Kimetto, who had overcome an ankle injury, has been forced to stop his training after he slid in training and injured his knee over the weekend. He posted pictures of his injured knee on his official twitter account, which showed a big cut.
"This is what happened to me. I fell down with my knee and it needed to be stitched. Scanning showed nothing damaged," he said.
Speaking from Eldoret on Monday, Kimetto, who holds the world record at 2:02:57, the only man to have run the 42km distance under 2:03:00, said his record may not stand for long.
Nike announced that three of its athletes would seek to run a sub-two-hour marathon in April. Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge is training for the sub-two attempt. There is also Ethiopian Boston champion Lelisa Desisa and world half marathon world record-holder Zersenay Tadese.
However, the trio will be running on a Formula One circuit in Italy with IAAF saying it will not recognize the record, at least not for now if it is broken.
"I know there are efforts to have someone break the record and under two hours. It is not as easy as it sounds. It requires a lot of efforts and everything must be perfect. Hopefully the team from Nike will succeed but I know it is no easy task," he said.
Kimetto last competed for Kenya at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China but failed to finish the race citing high temperatures. But he has seen his career stall with injuries creeping in for the last two years limiting his performances globally.
Kimetto holds the marathon record at 2:02:57 in Berlin 2014. He is also a winner of Tokyo, Chicago and Berlin marathons.
