Kenya's Chepchirchir chasing World Female Athelte of the Year title

World half marathon women's record-holder Peres Chepchirchir said on Wednesday she is chasing two final goals to successfully end her COVID-19 rocked year.

The 27-year-old Kenyan will be a frontrunner at the 2020 Valencia Marathon on Dec. 6 and has been shortlisted for the World Female Athlete of the Year.

Chepchirchir said she is ready to face a quality line up that includes her compatriots and former world half marathon record holder Joycline Jepkosgei, Purity Rionoripo and Fancy Chemutai who will be making her debut.

Ethiopian's 2019 Tokyo Marathon champion Ruti Aga, who holds personal best of 2:18:34, and her fellow countrywoman Birhane Dibaba will also spice up the event.

"Performing at the highest level requires extraordinary commitment and sacrifice, I'm glad that I have managed to deploy the commitment in training and I'm seeing good results coming my way. I haven't rested since winning the world half marathon title last month because I want to finish the year on a high note at the Valencia marathon next month," Chepchirchir told Xinhua.

"I know the level of quality I will be facing in Valencia, so I expect a great show and possible top finish," she added.

On Tuesday Chepchirchir was listed in the finals for World Female Athlete of the Year following brilliant performances that saw her break the world half marathon record for a women-only race twice, 1:05:34 and 1:05:16 respectively.

Also listed for the award are Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey who set the world record in women's 5,000m, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, Venezuela triple jumper Yulinar Rojas and Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Hera.

"I'm glad to be listed among the best athletes, I can't really predict the winner because the ladies performed really well despite the 2020 trouble season but being listed among the top five is an achievement for me. The 2020 presented so many challenges due to COVID-19 and little achievements should be appreciated," said Chepchirchir.