Kenya's Elijah Motonei Manangoi celebrates after winning the men's 1500m during the IAAF Diamond League competition on May 3, 2019 in Doha. (KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)

NAIROBI - Commonwealth Games 1,500m champion Elijah Manangoi has not been in action since September 2019 due to injury.

He was just powering up to be ready for the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic wrecked the sports calendar globally.

Manangoi watched as his hope to return to competition ruined by the pandemic and he has to be patient, like any other athletes waiting for his chance to resume training. He had missed the 2019 World Championships due to hamstring injury.

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We are going to be patient and wait when things will get back to normal before we can go back to the track

Elijah Manangoi

"I have been frustrated by the lockdown we are experiencing in sports. I was ready for the season, the Diamond League was my plan, but I saw event after event being cancelled. Then our training club was shut down and everyone had to return home," Manangoi said on Monday from Narok.

However, he is not giving up hope and has called for patience and focus as athletes gear up to remain fit and also the return of competition.

"We are going to be patient and wait when things will get back to normal before we can go back to the track," he said.

To win gold at the Olympics will be a dream come true for Manangoi, whose first attempt in Rio in 2016 ended in frustration as he could not make the finals.

"I was highly ambitious at the start of the year. I dreamt of running in Tokyo, that was my biggest factor, it helped me remain focused, but we have to wait until next year. The coronavirus forced the Olympic Games to be postponed to 2021 and there is nothing we can do to change that," he added.

Manangoi says there is very low morale as he keeps training alone at home, because there is nobody pushing him to run.

"It is like running against time when I train at home. I have a treadmill at home, and some stuff for weights and muscles. It is not like in the training camp, you really need to be determined to train at home," he added.

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To pass time, Manangoi is engaging himself in planting trees at his farm and also do a lit bit of agriculture. He also has some rental income to fall back to as the financial situation continues to be harder for the majority of people and sportsmen.

"I have some rentals. I do farm and plant trees. It keeps me occupied and I will be glad when the sports competition resumes," he added.