World marathon record-holder Dennis Kimetto of Kenya has announced that he has recovered from his injury and will compete in the Honolulu Marathon on December 10.
Kimetto, 33, lined up in the Chicago Marathon last month but was unable to finish the 42.195 km race due to injury, reports Xinhua news agency.
However, after seeing a doctor, Kimetto returned to Kenya for training and is confident he will be up to the challenge in a month' s time to wrest for the title.
"I am happy to be running again. I have improved much and will be hoping to win in Honolulu. Injury is part of sports and it's good that it is behind me now," Kimetto said on Thursday from Eldoret.
The Honolulu field also includes reigning champion and course record-holder Lawrence Cherono and former champion Wilson Chebet.
Kimetto, the current marathon world record holder in 2:02.57, had expressed fears prior to Chicago's race in October that he was not certain as to how body would react after missing training for over three months.
"I am in training and don't want to put any demands on myself. It has been frustrating and I tell you all that matters now is to get back on the starting line-up and compete. How the body will take that pressure is something I can't tell right now," he said.
The field also includes 2016 champion and course record holder Lawrence Cherono and 2014 champion Wilson Chebet, both from Kenya.
Cherono, who holds the Honolulu Marathon course record of 2:09:38 in 2016, is also optimistic about his prospects. He broke the previous record by 1 minute 34 seconds.
His record-breaking time was the third fastest winning time in a U.S. Marathon in 2016.
"The Honolulu Marathon strives to have the best possible athletes in our race. We have a storied tradition of great champions, including Olympic champions and Major marathon winners. But this will be the first time that the current world record holder in the marathon will be on the starting line," Jim Barahal, Honolulu Marathon CEO, said in a statement.
Kimetto, 33, is the marathon world record-holder from his 2014 Berlin triumph in 2:02:57. He also won at Chicago and Tokyo in 2013, capturing the US race in 2:03:45.
But Kimetto's chances are unclear this time around, after he failed to finish two of his four marathon starts since 2014, including this year's Boston Marathon in April due to an injury.
--IANS
sam/dg
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