Former Olympic and world marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich has vowed to return to winning ways when the 2018 Toronto marathon is run on October 24 in Canada.
The Ugandan star, who won gold at the 2012 London Olympics and the World Championships a year later, is training under Kenyan coach Patrick Sang in the Kenyan camp of Iten in Eldoret.
"I am in fine form and I am looking forward to coming out top in Canada. I know it is going to be a very competitive race, but I am well prepared," Kiprotich told KweséESPN.
In his most recent race, at the 2018 Haspa Hamburg Marathon in Germany, Kiprotich finished in fifth place, and he feels he is well placed to do even better in Toronto.
"I have had a good rest since my last Marathon in April and the body is really responding well. I am now much faster in my times and the endurance levels is also high," added the 29-year-old, who is also a Uganda Prisons Officer.
Dominic Otuchet, president of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF), told KweséESPN: "I think Kiprotich has prepared really well and we hope he will be in good shape to win the Marathon in Canada.
"He is one of our star athletes who we believe in a lot."
The Ugandan star will, however, face tough competition from two-time Toronto champion Philemon Rono and 2014 Dubai marathon champion Tsegaye Mekonnen. Both Kiprotich and Rono are training partners of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.