Lornah Kiplagat prepares for the European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul – European athletics (EAA) – NEWS

The Netherland's World Road and Cross Country Champion Lornah Kiplagat has been boosted by her two winter season wins (10km in San Juan and Half-marathon in Abu Dhabi) and is now in full preparation for her next race.

Kiplagat's next project is the 12th European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul, where she is racing not only to win, but also to achieve the IAAF A-qualifing time for the Olympics – 31.45. The 33-year-old runner's last track 10k was at the European Championships in 2006 where she finished in fifth 30:37.26.

The importance of this qualifying time to Kiplagat is clearly demonstrated by her decision to miss the opportunity of defending her Mombassa World Cross Country title in Edinburgh this week, the Half Marathon and 20km World record holderwishes to focus purely on track races this summer with a view to challenging the World's best 10,000m runners in Beijing.

European athletics (EAA) – NEWS