Kenya’s 1,500 meters women runners seem determined to get the gold at the Beijing Olympic Games to be held in August.
Irene Jelagat, Viola Kibiwot and Nancy Lagat are very optimistic about their return to China, hoping to get some medals. Jelagat won gold during the Beijing World Junior Championships two years ago.
“I still remember that time as if it were yesterday. I would really want to win at the Olympics and write history as the first Kenyan to bag a medal at the Games,” the 20-year-old Jelagat said, according to the Daily Nation on Thursday.
“My victory in the Paris Grand Prix secured me a slot in the team. Although I won during the trials (4:12.70), I didn’t have the qualification time, hence making the race very important,” she said.
Irene Jelagat was a source of inspiration for her team mates, former junior revelations Kibiwot and Lagat. The 25-year old Kibiwot is the Kingston 2002 1,500m junior champion while Lagat won the 2000 edition in Chile.
Kibiwot competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and finished fifth, but she is more experienced this time.
“Just as I was during my junior days in this race, so will I ensure that I’ve regained that form,” she said.
Jelagat is confident and believes she can make a podium finish at the Olympics. “I will be facing very strong competition but I believe I have a good chance of getting one of the places on offer,” she said.
During the national trials, in Nairobi, Jelagat ran 4:17.0 after having clocked 4:15.6 to win the Police championships a fortnight before. The Kenyan athlete, who took junior gold in Beijing with 4:0.88, has a personal best of 4:04.52 set last weekend at the Paris Grand Prix.
The middle and long distance races are Kenya’s main specialty. Their main competition comes from perennial rivals Ethiopia and Morocco.
“There are many runners out there who are very good. The likes of Romanian Liliana Popescu (4:00.35), Gelete Burka of Ethiopia (4:01.44) and Shannon Rowbury of US, who has run 4:01.61 as her best,” said Jelagat.
Popescu was dropped from Romania’s team for the Beijing Olympics after failing a drug test. The Romanian tested positive for an unidentified banned substance on May 29 in Algiers.
“The main problem we have with this race is that the athletes had very little time to train together, unlike other races. The three have only had two weeks to practice together and this in my view gives our opponents means of picking on us,” added head coach Julius Kirwa.
