Athlete by default, Kiplagat wants to go all the way

Florence Jebet Kiplagat did not take up athletics until she was in secondary school, but even then, she only restricted herself to institutional championships.

However, all that changed one morning in 2005 when in form four at Sergoit High School in Iten, she was urged by his father, William Kiplagat, a former marathon star, to race in a local competitions with the possibility of earning a scholarship to study in the United States.

Kiplagat did not get the scholarship, but she discovered her potential and concentrated on running at the highest level. Then aged 18, Kiplagat won her 5,000 metres race at the national junior track trials and travelled to Beijing for the 2006 World Junior Championships where she won a silver medal in the 5,000 metres.

At the Mombasa World Cross Country Championships in 2007, she finished fifth in the senior women’s race and later went to run in the IAAF Golden League track meetings. But after the Paris meeting in July, she returned home to have a baby.

A last born in a family of three and married to men’s cross country champion Moses Mosop, Kiplagat did not need extra inspiration to discover her talent.

The father William used to compete in marathon races and retired in 1998 while his elder brother Shadrack Kiplagat is also a seasonal athlete. Shadrack won the 2006 Madrid Half Marathon and finished fourth in the Madrid Marathon.

But Florence Kiplagat is not about to ride on the wave of her sibling or father. She wants to be her own athlete. She has made a comeback in 2009 by winning the Elgoibar Cross Country meeting in Bilbao and also came out top in Seville, Spain. Kiplagat then went on to win at the Tuskey’s Wareng cross country meeting in Eldoret.

“I went to the national trials more confident and it was no surprise to me to win. You see one has to be focused and confident. I never doubted my fitness and had self belief in my ability,” she said.

Fresh inspiration

Now, Kiplagat is back at the international scene and leads Kenya’s assault at the Amman, Jordan World Cross Country Championship set for next Saturday.

Together with Linet Masai, bronze medallist in Edinburgh in 2008, Lineth Chepkurui, Ann Karindi, Pauline Korikwiang and Innes Chenonges, Kiplagat will be eying to recapture the title, which Kenya won only once in 1994 in Budapest through Helen Chepng’eno.

“I would not be here if I had no belief that I can win the title in Amman. It will be my first trip to the Arab world, but I am not afraid. I relish the challenge from the Ethiopians,” she said.

Kiplagat is drawing fresh inspiration from the recent death of his brother just two days before she travelled to Nairobi for the national trials.

“I came to Nairobi just a day after burying him. It game me courage and challenge to wrest for the title and I did not let him down. I won and believe he will be happy if I triumph in Amman,” she said.