Kenya: Like Father, Like Son! Paralympian Felix Kipruto Eyes Gold in Tokyo

Felix Kipruto has always wanted to shine at a bigger stage like his late father William Kiprotich Kemei.

Kiprotich, who died in December 2007 at the age of 38, won gold in the men's 1,500m at the 1991 All Africa Games in Egypt.

He is also remembered for the resounding victory in the mile race at the 1992 Golden League meeting in Berlin, where he timed three minutes and 48 seconds to defeat the then 1,500m champion Noureddine Morceli.

After several years of hard work, Kipruto is within reach of achieving that dream at the Paralympics.

The 29-year-old, who competes in the 1500m T46 category, is among the nine athletes in Team Kenya for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games set for August 24 to September 5.

He will depart for Japan on Monday and take TO the track at the Tokyo's National Stadium on Saturday in the finals of the men's 1500m T46.

Buzzing with happiness after getting the golden opportunity to represent Kenya at the Tokyo Games, Kipruto said that he is ready yo bag gold.

"I thank God for this opportunity because it is not easy to reach this stage. Going by how I have been performing lately in training, I think it is possible (winning gold) if all goes well," said the first born in a family of five.

In February, Kipruto led other Kenyans - Wesley Kemei and Stanley Kipkoech in sweeping all the three podium places in the Dubai World Para-Athletics Grand Prix after timing 4:03.34, 4:04.43 and 4:05.92 respectively.

He then clinched the ticket to the Tokyo Games in March when claimed silver in the Tunis World Para-Athletics Grand Prix in 4:03. Globally, he is ranked fifth thanks to that performance.

In the Tunis competition, Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympics gold medallist Nouioua Samir of Algeria settled for bronze.

Kipruto said beating Samir gave him so much hope that he stands a good chance to cross the finish line first on Saturday at Tokyo's National Stadium.

"I felt so proud to beat him (Samir). Since then, I have always believed that I can perform better in Tokyo. If it happens (wins gold in Tokyo), I will be so proud of myself. It will bring a lot of glory to my family, country and the Kenya's Paralympics community," said Kipruto.

While he was born normal, his life took a turn for the worst sometime 2003 after he fell from a tree. In the freak accident, he fractured his right arm and also injured his right lung, which saw him spend more than one month in hospital.

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Since he had previously been competing with the abled athletes, he took up events for the disabled in 2014 after being motivated by the stories of two Paralympians - Henry Kirwa and Abraham Tarbei, who were then conquering various races.

Kirwa, 47, starred in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China winning gold medals in the men's 1500m and 5000m -T13 and 10000m - T12 events.

Tarbei bagged gold medals in men's 1500m-T46 and 5000m-T46 in the same competition.

The 2015 national trials for the All Africa Games in Congo was Kipruto's first attempt to represent Kenya at the international scene. But because he had not prepared well, he finished fourth.

In the 2017 trials for the World Para Athletics Championships in London, he emerged third but failed to travel with the team for the assignment since he did not have a passport.