NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 7 – After clinching the men’s 5000m title at the final Diamond League leg in Zurich, Kenya’s Nicholas Kimeli just wants to come back home for a deserved rest with his family and friends.
Kimeli closed out his season in style, running a remarkable 12:59.05 to finish first, ahead of South Sudanese Dominic Lokinyomo (12:59.40) and American Grant Fisher (13:00.56) in second and third respectively.
The Commonwealth Games 5000m silver medalist said he wants to start his preparations early enough for next year, hence the need to return home as soon as possible.
“This is my last competition… I will go back home to Kenya. Then, I will start preparing for next year. Next year, we have some cross country competitions in early March, so I want to work hard for that. I want to be part of the Kenyan team. As for my holidays, I will spend some time with my family and with my fans,” Kimeli, who also won at the Rome Diamond League, said.
Although the time he clocked at his last race at the Brussels Diamond League was faster than in the Swiss capital, Kimeli was still happy to have bounced back from his third-place finish in Belgium last Friday.
He admitted he was lucky to have come away as a winner considering the minimal preparations he had made prior to the race.
“I was struggling at first so I decided not to stay with the fastest group. But then I managed to close the gap. It was not too big for me, so it was not too difficult for me to close it. On the last laps, I decided to approach them and kick for the final lap,” he said.
Kimeli added: “I was not prepared…I never trained that seriously. We Kenyans help each other. I aim to get higher… to make history.”
As a result of clinching the Diamond League men’s 5000m trophy the came with Ksh 3.6 million (USD 30,000) Kimeli has earned a wildcard to next year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
He will be hoping to right the wrongs of the last edition in Oregon where he finished a woeful seventh in the finals of the men’s 5000m.
