LONDON • Kenya's Olympic and world 3,000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss the season-opening Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday.
The 25-year-old, whose personal best is 8min 0.12sec, revealed his disappointment as he had been in great shape ahead of the event and was primed to better the world record, set 16 years ago by Kenyan-born Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen (7:53.63).
"Our world is going through a challenging period and we all have to take our responsibilities," Kipruto, who was granted a special visa to travel to the principality as his country remains on a travel blacklist, said on Instagram.
"Unfortunately, my Covid-19 test, as part of the Monaco-protocol, came back positive and therefore I can't be part of the Monaco Diamond League on Aug 14.
"I don't have any symptoms and I was actually in great shape. I was planning to go for the world record. It has stayed too long outside Kenya."
The Monaco Diamond League meeting will be followed by events in Stockholm, Lausanne, Brussels, Rome/Naples, Doha and a yet to be determined location in China.
Meetings in Eugene in Oregon state in the US, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead in England and Shanghai have been cancelled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kipruto was not the only high-profile athlete to be infected by the virus over the weekend after the Sports Authority of India revealed that five national hockey players, including their captain Manpreet Singh, were quarantined following positive tests conducted at the team's training base in Bengaluru.
An official statement by the world's fourth-ranked team read: "The quarantined athletes did not interact with other athletes who were already present at the camp... few test results are still awaited."
"I'm very happy that they made the testing of athletes mandatory," Manpreet, 28, added.
"That proactive step helped in identifying the problem right in time. I am doing fine and hope to recover very soon."
The global health crisis is continuing to disrupt athletes' training in India, the worst-hit country in Asia where Covid-19 cases have topped 2.1 million. A training camp on the outskirts of Delhi for its elite shooters - their best hope for a gold medal at next year's postponed Tokyo Olympic Games - was recently axed.
REUTERS
