Pamela Jelimo eases through her first-round heat in Beijing (© Getty Images)
Until last year very little was known of Pamela Jelimo.
On the opening morning of the Athletics competition in Beijing in front of a full house of 90,000 spectators, Jelimo progressed with ease into the women’s 800m semi finals (Sat 16 Aug), thanks to a 2:03.18 win in heat three.
The latest athletics sensation from Kenya continues to define 800 metres running, four months after taking-up the distance seriously.
Yet Jelimo, 18, can hardly be described as a classic case of obscurity to fame. "She is like tens of athletes who have turned Kapsabet Stadium into their office," said her uncle and mentor Barnaba Korir who has guided Jelimo’s athletics development since she was 13-years-old, while schooling at Kaptumo village near Kapsabet.
In Kapsabet 50km south of Kenya's running capital of Eldoret, many budding runners who have taken up the sport as a profession dutifully arrive at the stadium in Kapsabet for a daily work out. There is no special magic in the system. The culture there is to constantly pound bodies to produce the best and in Jelimo this has stuck gold.
What is special about Jelimo is the fact that she chose the 400 metres as an entry point of her athletics career.
"This is a big plus for her because she is able to keep up with the field in the first 400m," said Korir who also doubles up as her manager in Kenya. "In the last lap as many have noticed she is in her territory and her sprinting prowess comes into play."
Even after winning the African junior title last year, in a time of 54.93 seconds, not many people paid attention. It was also lost to observers that she set a new Kenyan junior record of 24.68 seconds in the 200m.
Back at home, coaches and her training partners implored her to graduate to the 800m and in her first major race during the national championships to select the Kenyan team for the Africa Senior Championships last April, Jelimo posted 2:01.02 at the Nyayo National Stadium, showing a commanding pace.
The Kenya Police enlisted her, a wise move because a few weeks later she was crowned Africa champion in a new Kenyan junior record of 1:58.70 and her fairly tale rise had begun.
Sub-2 minutes became her zone. Despite her lack of experience, Jelimo set a new world junior mark of a 1:55.76 in Hengelo, and has since followed with a senior Area record of 1:54.99 in Berlin, and a further improvement of her Area and World Junior records to 1:54.97 in Paris.
The Olympics are her big goal on route to a possible US$ 1 million prize as she and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic are the remaining athletes in the AF Golden League Jackpot this season.
“Jelimo is sitting pretty for gold in Beijing,” said Kenyan Olympic coach Julius Kirwa.
Kirwa has been using male athletes like World champion Alfred Kirwa and Wilfred Bungei to polish the pace of Jelimo and her training partner, World champion Janeth Jepkosgei ,at Nyayo National Stadium until Friday (8 Aug, last week.
"My coach and training partners have been very supportive now is my turn to do my part," said Jelimo.
Residents of Kapsabet will follow the 800m with more than keen interest. They have been associated with Olympic glory since Kipchoge Keino, who hailed from this agricultural rich area, won the 1500m gold in Mexico Olympics 40 years ago.
In Beijing "we could finally get a track female Olympic champion," predicted Kirwa.
Peter Njenga for the IAAF
