NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 5 – Newly crowned World Under 20 3000m steeplechase champion Faith Cherotich’s story is one of a petite girl with an unbreakable will of steel.
She may have cruised to gold at the World Under 20 Championship in Cali, Colombia but the form three student at Kaliyet Secondary School in Kericho says it has been anything but easy for her.
Her coach, Bernard Rono, has been an asset to her.
“I give him a lot of credit because I have improved a lot in the past year. I used to struggle with jumping over the water and barriers but that is no longer a challenge for me anymore,” Cherotich said.
Also, the junior athlete credited her tremendous growth in the last year to opportunities to compete against senior athletes.
“I was this year’s Kip Keino Classic where I finished second in the women’s steeplechase. That result was a huge psyche for me especially because I did it against more senior athletes. After that, I went back to training hard with the sole aim of winning gold,” she said.
Indeed, Cherotich struck gold in sensational style, running 9:16.14 to create daylight between her closest challengers, Ethiopian pair of Selma Almayew and Meseret Yeshaneh.
Almayew clocked 9:30.41 as Yeshaneh came third in 9:42.02.
Despite heading into the race as the World Under 20 bronze medalist, Cherotich admitted she felt like the biblical David going into battle against Goliath.
“I looked at their (Ethiopians) times and knew I was up against it. They had run 9:09 and that seemed scary…I kept wondering if I could measure up but I thank God that my tactics came off perfectly,” she said.
Cherotich added: “I knew the Ethiopians are dangerous in the last lap because of their powerful kick. So rather than play into their strategy I decided to take control of the race from the onset.”
Cherotich, who made her debut at the national level at the 1st Athletics Kenya weekend meeting in Kericho, is already dreaming of the world record, currently held by Beatrice Chepkoech.
“I admire her a lot and the fact that she is the record holder inspires me to aim for the record. In 10 years, I am praying that I will have won as many titles and medals,” she said.
However, up next for her is the AK Cross Country series through which she hopes to make Team Kenya for the World Cross Country championships in Bathurst, Australia.
