Ab-Titchaz
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- Jan 30, 2008
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KENYAN GOLDEN GIRLS SOUND OLYMPIC ALARM!!!
Kenya's Pamela Jelimo celebrates after winning the women's 800m final at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at the Atakoy Athletics Arena in Istanbul on March 11, 2012.
Kenya's Hellen Obiri celebrates after winning the women's 3000m final at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at the Atakoy Athletics Arena in Istanbul on March 11, 2012.
Posted Sunday, March 11 2012 at 20:00
Their comeback stories almost read from the same script. Pamela Jelimo and Hellen Obiri's are stories of self belief, determination, discipline and hard work.
And when the two wonder girls struck gols medal on Sunday at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, their inspiring performances were ruthless yet comprehensive and satisfying.
That Jelimo and Obiri's victories in 800m and 3,000m - to become the only other Kenyans to have won World Indoor titles after Wilfred Bungei in 800m at the 2006 Moscow Championships - are by no means great achievements.
After her name was engraved in Kenyan sports history as the first woman to win the country an Olympic Games gold medal following her exploits at the 2008 Beijing Games, Jelimo's dream of firmly cementing her name in athletics were hampered by injuries that locked her out for almost three years.
On the other hand, everything was in favour of Obiri when she occupied a place in the leading pack of four in women's 1,500m final during the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. However, as fate would have it, Obiri was to crash heavily when she was tripped in the final, settling for seventh.
Jelimo, the Olympic champion, whose career since that Beijing win has been blighted by injury, timed 1min 58.83sec for gold, Ukraine's Nataliia Lupu taking silver in 1:59.67, with American Erica Moore claiming bronze (1:59.97).
"These last three years, with my injury were a disaster for me," said Jelimo, who won at the Beijing Games at the tender age of just 18.
"Injuries have a great impact on top athletes. It was bad for all of us, my country, my management and me. But I did not give up and my coach motivated me a lot.
"It feels great to be a world champion, it's great to be at the top again. I didn't imagine winning this title."
Jelimo was content to let Moore race out into the lead, biding her time in a physical run. "There were a lot of pushes in the last two laps (on the 200m track), but that's okay," she said.
Obiri won the 3000m title in 8:37.16sec to deprive Ethiopian Meseret Defar of a fifth consecutive title.
Defar had to be content with silver in 8:38.26, with team-mate Gelete Burka taking bronze (8:40.18).
http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athl...+alarm+/-/1100/1364286/-/156u889/-/index.html
