NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — World 800m record holder David Rudisha will get to know the extent of his fitness ahead of next month’s World Championships in Daegu when he competes in Kenyan trials starting on Thursday, his coach said.

Irish Brother Colm O’Connell said Rudisha, who was forced to stop training for three months due to an ankle injury earlier this year, will run his speciality in the three qualifying rounds at the trials.

“This should serve as a good test for him before the World Championships,” said O’Connell, who has spent the last two weeks with the athlete training for the trials at his Iten camp in western Kenya.

The 22-year-old Rudisha made a winning return to the track in the French city of Nancy on June 24 when he returned a season’s leading time of 1:43:46.

But O’Connell believes he is yet to run a better time.

“I know many people were worried about the extent of his foot injury after he missed the Doha, Rome and Ostrava race meetings. We did not want to push him so early in the season and that is why we gave him enough time to heal,” he said.

“He is not in the best shape he was last year but we are slowly getting there,” he added.