Nairobi, Chicago Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei hopes she will rise to clinch the Olympic gold medal in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Kosgei snubbed the call to represent Kenya at the World Championships in Doha in October in order to chase the world record in Chicago. It is a move she does not regret, reports Xinhua news agency.
Now she has set her eyes on running at the Olympics having broken the world record for the women’s marathon in Chicago, clocking 2:14:04.
“My coach and management have agreed that I should run at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It remains the main target and challenge for me in 2020, which I want to accomplish,” Kosgei said on Thursday on her way back from the World Athletics gala in Monaco, where she was among the final nominees for Female Athlete of the Year.
Kosgei will likely be in London in April to defend her London Marathon title. It will be her 10th marathon since her debut in Porto in 2015.
She has so far won in Porto, Milan, Chicago and London. Her worst performance was in Boston in 2018 in bad weather, where she clocked 2:31:48 on her way to the eighth place.
“I am always motivated and I have no hard feelings for missing out on the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year Award. I take a lot of positives from the fact that I was nominated among the best five runners in 2019, which means I had a good season. To make the final list is a win on its own,” she said.
Kosgei was accompanied by her husband and coach Mathew Kosgei to Monaco, where 400m hurdler Dalilah Muhammad from the USA won the Female Athlete of the Year Award, pipping Kosgei, Jamaica’s Shelly Ann Fraser and Sifa Hassan of the Netherlands.
“I had my husband with me in Monaco, he has always encouraged me and coached me. He reminded me of the journey we have had, how far we have come and why being there was a victory in itself,” Kosgei said.
For now, Kosgei will take a deserved rest as she plots her return next season in her push for the Olympic marathon crown.
