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NAIROBI: There were big celebrations in Kenya on
Tuesday as the east African nation claimed four more medals,
including two gold, at the world athletics championships in Osaka,
Japan.
A clean sweep in the men’s
3,000 meters steeplechase lead by Olympic silver medalist Brimin
Kipruto and Janeth Jepkosgei’s rare victory in the women’s 800m
took the country’s tally to seven medals and into third place
behind leaders the United States in the medals table.
Jepkosgei’s winning time of
1min 56.04sec smashed one of Kenya’s oldest track records set in
1988 by Francisca Chepkurui by 62 seconds.
Local television channels
interrupted their daily programming to show the two races live in
the early afternoon when most Kenyans were busy at work.
Nowhere were the celebrations
bigger than in Jepkosgei’s hometown of Eldoret, 350km west of the
capital and the nearby IAAF High Altitude Training camp where the
24-year-old Commonwealth Games champion honed her career.
“We are very excited for her
victory,” said camp administrator Ian Keino, son of the legendary
two-time Olympic gold medalist Kip Keino.
“Jepkosgei is a special athlete
considering this is the first time that a Kenyan woman has won the
800m. She has made us proud.”
--AFP
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