Athletics Australia – News – Kiprop adds final piece to puzzle

The middle distance events at upcoming instalments of the Australian Athletics Tour have been further bolstered today, with Olympic 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop to take to the start line in Melbourne and Sydney on March 3 and 19 respectively.

Set to join the third best Australian of all time Jeff Riseley, US mile record holder Alan Webb and Olympic silver medallist Nick Willis (NZL) for the 1500m in Melbourne, Kiprop is the African champion, boasts a personal best of 3:31.20 and in 2010 was ranked the world’s number one 1500m runner by authoritative athletics journal Track & Field News.

Edged out after falling in 2010 by Riseley (1^st, 3:42.70) and Willis (3^rd, 3:43.33) at the IAAF Melbourne Track Classic, Kiprop will look to stamp his dominance on the event in Australia with last year’s fiery yet tactical race providing a fantastic pre-cursor to what will hopefully be a blistering event next Thursday.

“Australian middle distance is continuing to strengthen and the addition of Asbel (Kiprop) to our domestic season provides a great opportunity for the likes of Jeff (Riseley) as they chase world champs (sic) qualifiers,” Tim O’Shaughnessy, Athletics Australia National Distance Coordinator, said.

“We’re lucky to so regularly run alongside an Olympic champion on home soil, not to mention Nick (Willis) who won the Beijing silver medal, and together their presence will be instrumental in taking our boys to the next level.”

Whilst Willis and Webb won’t continue to the Sydney Track Classic, Kiprop will once again line up for the almost four laps, with 2010 Australian championships bronze medallist Jeremy Roff and a host of up and coming talent to join him.

A five-stop national tour, the 2011 Australian Athletics Tour boasts four divisions (sprints/hurdles, distance, throws, jumps) with male and female athletes in different events pitted against each other in the race for the largest prize purse in Australian athletics history.

The Sydney Track Classic is the last leg of the tour before the Tour Final in Perth, with domestic athletes, on the hunt for strong point scores, lining up alongside a bounty of international talent that includes 800m world record holder David Rudisha who will take to the two-lap event.

2011 Australian Athletics Tour

Round 3: Melbourne Track Classic – Thursday March 3, 2011
Round 4: Sydney Track Classic – Saturday March 19, 2011
Australian Athletics Tour Final Perth: Thursday March 31 – Friday April 1, 2011

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Athletics Australia – News