DOHA, Qatar — Having made the switch from the steeplechase to the 1,500m, Aisha Praught-Leer believes she can make her mark as her training has been going well.

Praught-Leer, who is the national record holder for the 2,000m steeplechase with 9:14.09 minutes established in 2018, told the Jamaica Observer that the obstacle event has been cruel to her body.

“It’s very demanding on the body and it doesn’t really allow you to run other distances because the training is gruelling and it takes long time to recover from those types of sessions,” Praught-Leer said.

“So we decided to try only 1,500m for one year and train specifically for it because I have popped a couple of fast times in the 1,500 and made the world final indoors and done a couple of things that make us think like, we could be pretty good at this if we could give it a good crack,” she added.

Praught-Leer is ranked 27th in the world in the 1,500m and has the 56th best time of 4:06.11 done on July 20. Her personal best is 4:05.52 established in 2015. The national record is 4:01.84 set by Yvonne Graham 24 years ago in 1995.

Praught-Leer will bow into action tomorrow as Jamaica’s lone entrant in the event at the IAAF World Championships here.

“This will be the biggest test. It’s three rounds and I think it could go pretty well,” she added.

The American-born Praught-Leer, who met her Jamaican father for the first time in 2013 in Germany, started representing Jamaica in 2015 after connecting with her roots.

She got married in 2016 to American Will Leer, a former middle distance runner himself for his country. He is currently her coach.

“We chose the 1,500m this year to have an experimental year at the distance,” Praught-Leer said as her husband listened attentively nearby.

Praught-Leer revealed that she was caught up in the steeplechase after leaving college but the 1,500m is what suits her better.

“I have showed a couple of times in practice and in competition in the 1,500m and it really works well with my body and my skill set,” she said.

She has been training in Switzerland at high altitude and in Italy at sea level and thinks she is ready.

“We had a good energy at the camp and just some really good workouts, so I am feeling really confident going into it,” said Praught-Leer.

But while she hopes to represent Jamaica with distinction, to find a training partner in Jamaica or get quality competition has been elusive for her as the island lacks quality middle distance runners.

“I really hope it comes along. It’s something that I want to see happen by the time I retire with us retaining some more middle distance women so I would have been able to race at trials,” she noted.

“That’s something I really miss out on, being in longer distance, that we are not retaining the women in that. I am waiting. Hopefully, seeing someone in your country’s colour kind of gives people ideas it can happen,” she said.