World Mountain Running Championships: Patrick Kipngeno lifts Kenya to the top

Patrick Kipngeno ruled supreme at the World Mountain Running Championships. The Kenyan retained his title in a time of 40min 18sec, 1min 33sec clear of Uganda's Levi Kiprotich in second, and 1min 46sec ahead of bronze medallist and compatriot Josphat Kiprotich.

"I thank God because I retained my title. The course was very enjoyable, very difficult. I started pushing hard at 5 km. I had run the course beforehand, so when I was running I was very confident because I knew everything. I was training in Austria. I have a lot of friends in Europe, it's my second home. I trained very well so I knew I was going to win," the world champion exclaimed after the race.

Patrick Kipngeno also led Kenya to team gold in the team race. The 29-year-old maintains that his country will continue to be a rising force in mountain running in the years to come. "Every year, we are improving," he said. "In Thailand, there were three of us (in the Kenyan team), now we are up to seven, and every year we increase the number of athletes."

The East African country also won the women's team race, ahead of Germany and Switzerland. Philaries Jeruto Kisang also took silver in the women's individual race with a time of 48min 51sec. Gold went to Austria's Andrea Mayr (48min 14sec).