Niels Laros (© Dan Vernon)
World Athletics Inside Track visits rising Dutch runner Niels Laros during a training trip to Kenya.
The teenager won the 1500m and 5000m double at the European U20 Championships last year, then went on to reach the World Championships 1500m final in Budapest, clocking a senior national record of 3:31.25.
Fresh from breaking the world U20 1000m record in Hengelo, Laros is now excited to be heading to the Olympic Games in Paris.
"My father was an athlete and he missed qualifying for the Olympics by eight hundredths of a second," explains Laros. "When I was young, I heard that story and I immediately thought I want to be the guy who makes it. So it means a lot to now be heading to an Olympic Games.
"It's always been a dream. I used to think that Paris would come too soon, but I'm really happy with the progress I've made and that I can compete in Paris.
"I'm very excited for what's to come this season," he adds. "It's the Olympics, the highest stage of all, and I'm really looking forward to competing there."
