Sheila Chepkirui over the moon after making Team Kenya to Budapest
Kenyan marathon runner, Sheila Chepkirui, has expressed her delight at being selected for the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Chepkirui, 33, comprises the stellar list of headliners unveiled by Athletics Kenya (AK) last week to hold forte for the country in the flagship global extravaganza set for August.
The Commonwealth Games 10,000m bronze medalist said she has already begun her preparations in anticipation of a monumental conquest in the central European nation.
"I'm overjoyed to have made the team. It is always a wonderful honour to be given the rare opportunity to represent the country on such a stage. "I'm hoping to do well," Chepkirui said.
She said she plans to participate in the Boston 10k race on June 25 as part of her training program."Right now my focus is to prepare adequately for the World Championships. I'll be traveling to the US to battle out in the Boston 10k race to evaluate my speed," Chepkirui remarked. "I don't intend to compete in any major marathon events until then," Chepkirui said.
Budapest will be her third marathon attempt after she clocked 2:17:29 to wrap up sixth on her debut over the distance in Valencia last year.
She heads into the championships buoyed by her impressive show at the 2023 London Marathon on April 23, where she placed fourth behind Holland's Sifa Hassan, Ethiopian Alemu Megertu, and compatriot Peres Jepchirchir respectively.
The Kenya Defence Forces officer said she is currently on vacation in Kericho county, where she is perfecting her act for the herculean task. I am currently on leave, so I am training alone at home in Kericho. I usually work out with the KDF team in Ngong," she stated.
Chepkirui will be heading to Budapest strengthened by a recent heartwarming report that ranked her fourth in the 10 km road race on the world all-time list.
A natural trailblazer, Chepkirui defeated Japan's Yuriko Kobayashi over 1500m at the 2005 World Youth Championships to storm her maiden global title after posting a championship record of 4:12.29.
After enrolling with Kenya Defence Forces around 2012, she secured a spot on the plane to the 2016 African Cross Country Championships, where she bagged the silver in a Kenyan podium sweep alongside compatriots Alice Aprot and Beatrice Mutai.
Chepkirui will, however, first have to fend off a stiff challenge from 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medals Brigid Kosgei who won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons, and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon.
She won the Paris Half Marathon title in France after clocking 66.00 minutes ahead of Ethiopian Betelihem Yemer (66.45) and Kenyan Marion Kibor (66.45). Unforeseen visa gremlins saw her painfully miss out on this year's Boston Marathon as well as the Oregon22 World Athletics Championships.
She nonetheless secured a place in Team Kenya for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year, where she blazed to the 10,000m bronze podium behind Scot Eilish McColgan and compatriot Irene Cheptai.
posted Thursday June 8th
by Tony Mballa