World Cross-country Championships: Kiprotich hopes to take part

Stephen Kiprotich could be one of the big names representing Uganda at the World Cross-country Championships in March.

Uganda will host the prestigious world biennial meet at the national independence grounds, Kololo on March 27.

Former Olympic and World Champion Kiprotich will lead his club (Prisons) at the National Championships on January 14.  It's here that Uganda's team for the world meet will be selected.

"I want to first lead my club Prisons to the national title. In that process I hope to also make it to the national team," Kiprotich said from Kapchorwa last week.

Unlike the majority of his team-mates who are training in Bukwo, Kiprotich is fine-tuning at the Global Sports Communication camp in Eldoret, Kenya.

Kiprotich, currently known more for road racing, is however no newcomer to the cross-country.

He ran his first International race at the World Championships Cross Country in Fukuoka Japan in 2006, he finished 24th in the junior competition.

He thereafter focused on track but bounced back to cross-country in 2011.

He finished sixth in Punta Umbría, Spain leading Uganda to team bronze.

His senior men team-mates that time were Moses Kipsiro in 11th position, Geoffrey Kusuro (13), Dickson Huru (19), and Moses Kibet (22).

He later switched to the road and it is here that he sparkled.

In 2011 he entered the Enschede Marathon in Holland to pace the group through 30km. Doing so in a very easy and smooth way, he decided to finish the race - that's how he broke the course record by over 1.5 minutes.

What followed was even more glory as the ever-smiling runner from Cheptityal village in Kapchorwa struck gold at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Championships.

Gold has however lately been elusive for the Uganda Prisons officer. He was sixth at the 2015 Beijing World Championships and 14th at the Rio Olympics in August.