A golden day for Kenya

• Jelimo is the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
• World champion Brimin Kipruto and compatriot Benjamin Kogo cruise to a 1-2 finish in the 3,000 metres steeplechase.
• Kenya has won all Olympic titles in the 3,000 metres steeplechase save for 1976 and 1980 when it boycotted.

History was written at the Beijing National Stadium last night as Pamela Jelimo and Brimin Kipruto won Kenya’s first gold medals at the Olympic Games in spectacular fashion.

Jelimo becomes the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics, a rather strange statistic given the country’s dominance in athletics over the years.

World champion Brimin Kipruto cruised to victory in the 3,000 metres steeplechase race to maintain a rich Kenyan tradition that started in 1968 when Amos Biwott won the country’s first ever steeplechase gold at the Mexico Olympics in a race that saw Benjamin Kogo complete a Kenyan 1-2 finish.

Kenya has won all Olympic titles in the race since then, apart from the 1976 and 1980 Games in Montreal and Moscow, which Kenya boycotted.

Kenya is the highest placed African nation in 18th place with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Ethiopia lie 24th with two gold and one silver while Zimbabwe are 30th on the log with one gold and three silver medals. All of Zimbabwe’s medals were won by swimmer Kirsty Coventry.

The 18-year-old Jelimo’s winning time of one minute 54.87 seconds in the 800 metres thriller was also a world junior record. Kenya’s world champion, Janeth Jepkosgei, who set the early pace for Jelimo in front of a screaming crowd of 91,000 before Jelimo took charge in the last 400 metres, won the silver medal in 1:56.07.

The Kenya Police runner dedicated her win to her mother, Rhoda Jeptoo Keter, a former athlete herself and a mother of nine who hails from Nandi district.

“I’m so happy. Its unbelievable. I wanted to reach the final and now that I have won the gold it’s really great for my family and great for Kenya,” Jelimo said.

“We planned to run as a team and bring the medals with Janeth and I’m happy things went the right way. I dedicate my medal to my mother and to all Kenyans and I urge parents to encourage their children to take up sports along with education… I would not be here if my mother did not encourage me to run,” she added.

Jepkosgei said they had planned their strategy well ahead of the race. “I told her that since she was the stronger one between us, she should just attack the race and go all the way,” Jepkosgei, who won the world championships gold medal in Osaka, Japan, last year said.

“I’m happy the race went that way and I’m also happy that Brimin Kipruto won the steeplechase gold medal. It’s a great night for Kenya.”
On Sunday, Kenya won its first two medals of the 29th Olympic Games which end next Wednesday when Catherine Ndereba and Eunice Jepkorir finished second to take silvers in the marathon and the 3,000 metres steeplechase respectively.

Today, Augustine Choge and Asbel Kiprop will be looking to get more medals for Kenyan when they compete in the 1,500 metres final.

Dickson Wamwiri and Milkah Akinyi begin their competitions in the taekwondo tomorrow morning.

Kenya was also represented in swimming, bowing and rowing at these games.

It was 9.20 pm Beijing time (4.20 pm Kenyan time) when Kipruto crossed the finish line to win the steeplechase, his arms spread out in jubilation after clinching the Olympic title in eight minutes, 10.34 seconds with fellow Kenyan Richard Mateelong finishing third to take the bronze medal in 8:11.01.

Former Algerian Frenchman Mahiedine Maekhissi-B spoilt the Kenyan party by outsprinting Mateelong to take the silver medal, although his extraordinary performance raised eyebrows among athletics analysts here, who have never seen him perform at top level steeplechase competitions before.

“I feel great. I knew it was my race and I knew if I was in the leading group with 200 metres to go, I would beat anybody,” the 23-year-old, who became the youngest athlete to win a medal in an Olympic steeplechase race when he won silver at the 2004 Games in Athens, said.

Further medals