Double Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi declared that he is yet to officially retire from athletics as he took to the streets of Dubai on Friday with his signature dance ahead of the Dubai Run
The 39-year-old who won Kenya’s only gold medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics and another in London 2012 was among over 10,000 athletes that participated in the run that took place in the wee hours of Friday morning.
Kemboi says retirement from athletics has never come across his mind, he just took a break.
“I don’t recall ever announcing my retirement,” said Kemboi.
“Just because you’ve not seen me in the limelight doesn’t mean I’ve retired. I am still busy behind the scenes preparing for road races,” he added.
In 2019, Kemboi tried out in marathon in Hamburg but he did not finish the race. He has been on low key and his famous dance might have just rekindled memories from London 2012.
He says his new challenge of running the longer 42km distance against some of the strongest and fastest marathon runners is something he is working towards.
“Kemboi has won the Olympics, Worlds, Commonwealth Games and Africa titles, so this one he will conquer, when I can’t say with certainty,” added Kemboi.
Kemboi will be joined by Africa’s 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala in the run, dubbed “Run with the Champions”, will see participants among them the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, take part in 5km and 10km races along the iconic Sheikh Zayed superhighway on November 26.
The 2021 Dubai Run is among several activities lined-up for the seven athletes who will represent Kenya at the Expo 2020 Dubai.
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba), who will manage Kenya’s pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai, aim to use to showcase Kenya as a destination for investment, sports, and tourism.
Other Kenyans who took part in the race include former 800m world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, 2013 London Marathon winner Priscah Jeptoo, 2021 Berlin Marathon first runner-up Bethwel Yegon, Jonathan Kiplimo Maiyo, who set a personal best time of 2:04:56 at the 2012 Dubai Marathon, and 2010 Nagpur half-marathon winner Hellen Nzembi.
The run will start at the Kenyan pavilion and, it will have three courses - 3km, 5km, and 10km routes.
The Expo 2020 Dubai was initially scheduled to take place from October 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021, but it was cancelled due to Covid-19.