FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vienna City Marathon on Sunday:

World record holder Dennis Kimetto ready for comeback

Dennis Kimetto is ready for a comeback. The marathon world record holder,
who ran 2:02:57 in Berlin four years ago, has not finished a marathon since
April 2016. However the Kenyan believes that his injury problems are
finally put behind him and looks ahead optimistic to the Vienna City
Marathon on Sunday. Kimetto is the star attraction of the race which will
see its 35th edition and is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race. The race will be
shown live online at www.vienna-marathon.com on Sunday with the coverage
starting at 8.30 am local time (CET).

After a series of sensational results and two world records - Kimetto also
holds the current 25 k mark with a time of 1:11:18 which he ran in May 2012
in Berlin - the Kenyan only finished two marathons in the past three years:
He was third in London in 2015 with 2:05:50 and then clocked 2:11:44 for
ninth place in the same race a year later. "After my first London Marathon
in 2015 I was injured again and again for more than two years," said Dennis
Kimetto. First he injured his quadricep muscle, then his groin and finally
the triceps muscle.

"It was only in January this year that we found out why I got all these
injuries. The reason was a wrong treatment by the physiotherapist,"
explained Kimetto, who then switched to a physiotherapist in his hometown
Eldoret, who also treats former marathon world record holder Wilson
Kipsang. "Since January I have no more pains and no injuries any more. I
could train properly without any problems."

With regard to possible time goals Dennis Kimetto remained cautious during
the press conference. A couple of weeks ago he indicated that he might go
for the course record of 2:05:41 set by Ethiopia's Getu Feleke back in
2014. With warm weather conditions likely he said: "If the weather is good
then I want to run a good time. I think 2:07 to 2:08 would be good." If
Kimetto should be able to record his first sub 2:10 finish since April 2015
his Vienna race will probably be regarded as a successful comeback.

Last year's runner-up Ishmael Bushendich and Nicholas Rotich are two
runners who could show fine performances on Sunday while Ethiopia's Dino
Sefir had to withdraw due to an injury. Asked if he intends to go one
better than last year and win Bushendich answered: "Well, Dennis Kimetto is
here. So he is the favourite. It is the first time I will compete against
him." The 26 year-old has a personal best of 2:08:20 and clocked 2:08:42 in
Vienna a year ago despite difficult weather conditions.

In contrast fellow-Kenyan Rotich features a personal best that is well
below par for an international elite field of a major marathon. The 22
year-old ran 2:20:16 in Toronto two years ago. What convinced organisers to
invite him was his training background in Kenya. Rotich belongs to the
group led by marathon Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and world half
marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor. "Training together with them I made up
my mind and decided to concentrate on the marathon instead of running half
marathons and doing pacing jobs," explained Rotich, who was among the group
of pacemakers for Eliud Kipchoge's sub two hour project in Monza a year
ago. "Kipchoge is a great example, showing that hard work and discipline
brings rewards. We did all the long runs and the speed work together," said
Rotich, who hopes to improve by a huge margin on Sunday and might go for a
2:07 time.

Selected elite runners with personal bests:

Dennis Kimetto KEN 2:02:57 (WR)
Abrha Milaw ETH 2:07:46
Ishmael Bushendich KEN 2:08:20
Samwel Maswai KEN 2:08:52
Dominic Ruto KEN 2:09:08
Birhanu Addisie ETH 2:09:27
Salaheddine Bounasser MAR 2:10:04
Paulo Paula BRA 2:10:23
Hosea Maiyo KEN 2:11:51
Nicholas Rotich KEN 2:20:16
Simon Tesfay ERI Deb?t

For more information please visit: www.vienna-marathon.com

###