World marathon bronze-medallist Sharon Cherop, who has been overlooked in Kenya Olympic marathon team selection, was certain Wednesday a repeat victory in Boston in April would secure her a slot at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

Cherop, who won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, will return to wrest the title in Boston in April after she braved rising temperatures and humidity to clinch victory in the race last year timed at 2:31:50.

"Next year we have the World Championships and it is every athlete's dream to run for her country. I want to see how I will fair on in Boston and then hopefully, should I win, the officials will consider me for the World Championships," Cherop said on Wednesday in Eldoret.

In her absence in London, Kenya had Priscah Jeptoo, who won silver at the Olympics marathon, Mary Keitany (Bronze) and Edna Kiplagat - who got injured and finished in position 20.

Now the quest for spot in the Kenya team gathers momentum, as the country seeks to defend the individual gold won by Kiplagat in the last Championships in Daegu.

Cherop will not be alone, as Wesley Korir has also confirmed his place in the line-up at the Boston marathon. The duo returns to Boston Streets in April. Korir timed his race to perfection and coped best with the unusually hot conditions.

Resisting the surges of his opponents earlier in the race, the 30-year-old went on to win comfortably by 26 seconds in 2:12:40. Although it was one of his slowest races to date, the victory in itself was the biggest achievement in Korir's career so far.

"Winning the Boston Marathon was the biggest accomplishment of my life and the win placed me in a distinguished group of champions who are legendary," said Korir, who is based in the USA.

"The entire world recognizes and respects the Boston Marathon, and I am proudly a Boston Marathon champion forever."

More recently, Korir, a two-time winner of the Los Angeles Marathon, reduced his personal best to 2:06:13 when finishing fifth at the Chicago Marathon in October.

Cherop's time of 2:31:50 could not be compared to the 2:22:39 she set in Dubai just three months before heading to Boston early this year. In Turin, Italy last month, Cherop clocked 2:23:57 to win.

"I will be in Boston to try to win again and perform at my best level," said Cherop, 28. "I know that there are some of the best athletes in the world competing in Boston in 2013, but I'll be ready for the big race."

"The course is very hard because there are a lot of hills and you are running without pacers, but I like this course because it's also making a natural selection among the athletes," she added.





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