Nairobi, August 1

Former 5000m world champion and 10,000m record holder Yobes Ondieki has warned Kenyan runners they must work harder to beat double world champion Mo Farah at this month’s World championships in Beijing.

Ondieki said the current crop of Kenyan athletes must believe in themselves first to be able to conquer Farah, who is hoping to successfully defend his 5000m and 10000m titles. “The athletes should not focus so much on Farah. They must not focus so much on the Briton but be prepared to run their own race in order to be competitive enough against him”, said Ondieki, who won a 5000m gold medal at the 1991 championships in Tokyo and went on to become the first man to break the 27-minute barrier in the 10000m at the Bislett Games in Oslo.

Kenya last took the world 5000m title at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, Finland, where the gold medal won by Benjamin Limo turned out to be the only medal Kenya got in the entire competition. Reigning world cross country champion and world half marathon record holder, Geoffrey Kamworor, won the 10000m final at the Kenyan trials on Saturday and is expected to spearhead the Kenyan challenge in Beijing. Kamworor, who finished second to the Briton at the Prefontaine Classic over 5000m in May clocked 27:11.89, ahead of Bedan Karoki (27:15.33) and the 2013 world bronze medallist, Paul Tanui, who timed 27:18.45 in third place.

“The big challenge for all of us is now against Mo Farah,” Kamworor told reporters after the race. “If we manage to beat him we shall bring the 10000m gold medal to Kenya for the first time in 14 years.” Charles Kamathi was the last Kenyan 10000m gold medal winner when he beat Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie in Edmonton, Canada.