NAIROBI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Olympic and world steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto skipped the Kenyan national championships to compete at the Paris Diamond League on Saturday.
The 24-year-old has opted to return to action after three months struggle with injury eyeing to test his fitness against the best in Paris.
Kipruto, also the Commonwealth Games champion who had his foot fracture diagnosed in May, will face Moroccan Soufiane El Bakaali whom he beat to the Diamond League title in Zurich last year.
"I have no targets other than to win the race," he said on Thursday in Nairobi. "I want to gauge myself against the best and after that head to Morocco for the Africa Games."
Kipruto leads Kenya's legion of elite runners to the penultimate race in the 14-tier circuit where winners will wrap up points for a ticket to the finals, to be held in Brussels and Zurich in September.
"My focus is to be at my best form and compete at the World Championships. The Diamond League has top runners leading including Soufiane El Bakaali, but I will run my own race," he adds.
El Bakaali leads this year's world list with a time of 8:04.82. During last year's Diamond League final in Zurich, Kipruto overtook him in the closing stages to claim the title, despite having lost a shoe early in the race. Enditem
