NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 6 – World 3,000m steeplechase record holder Beatrice Chepkoech says there is more to come from her in 2023 after a positive start to the year in which she has twice finished on the podium within a week.
The 31-year-old, 2019 World 3000m steeplechase champion clocked 34:35.3 to win the women’s race at the National Police Service (NPS) Cross Country Championships at the Ngong Racecourse on Friday morning.
In second place was Gladys Kwamboka who timed 34:36.4 as the 2013 World 5000m silver medalist Mercy Cherono came third in 34:39.2.
Speaking after the win, Chepkoech said she has never felt more rejuvenated and motivated to push to the top than she is presently.
“My plan this season is to go for the World Championships. I want to try out the National cross country championships before the World Cross Country Championships (in Australia). I want to retain my world title (at Budapest) because last season I did not compete well, the reason being I had a stress fracture and before that I had a hamstring injury. I am now in better shape and hopeful that 2023 will be a very productive year for me,” Chepkoech said.
Chepkoech, who timed a new world record of 8:44.32 in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the Monaco Diamond League in 2018, has struggled with injury complications for the past two years, which resulted in lacklustre performances at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The 2018 African 3,000m steeplechase champion finished seventh in the women’s final in the quadrennial games although she did secure podium finishes at the Monaco (2nd ) and Stockholm (3rd) Diamond League series.
She was also unable to defend her world title at last year’s edition in Oregon, United States.
Nonetheless, 2022 ended on a positive note for Chepkoech as she finished third in the women’s race at the San Silvestre Vallecana 10km road race in Madrid on New Year’s Eve.
It was a continuation of what has been an upturn in form for Chepkoech who also earned her ticket to the Kenyan team for next month’s World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
This was after she finished third in the women’s 2km race during the national trials at the Kenya Prisons Training College in Ruiru in early December, last year.
Reflecting on her renaissance, Chepkoech said she has had to wade through muddy waters in form of various challenges, including a pneumonia infection that almost put paid to her dream of donning the Team Kenya singlet once again at an international competition.
“I had a problem (during trials)…I had pneumonia and was under medication. That’s why I decided to start with the 2km race and then upgrade to 10km but my body was not responding to medication. But now, I have finished my medication and everything is working out well in training,” she said.
Chepkoech added: “Today (Police championships) was easy compared to the last time even though I had just run in Madrid the other day and when I came back to the country, had not done much training. I did a bit of jogging yesterday in preparation for today’s race. The tactic was to surge to the front and maintain the momentum to the end.”
In Australia, she will be hoping to replicate her achievements in 2017 when she represented Kenya in the mixed relay at the World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda – a race in which Team Kenya clinched gold.
