Pamela Jelimo

Life and work

Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first Kenyan to win the Golden League Jackpot. She holds both the 800 m world junior record and the senior African record over the same distance. Jelimo is also one of the youngest women to win an Olympic gold medal for Kenya.

Pamela Jelimo was born in Kiptomok village, Nandi District, Rift Valley Province. Her mother, Esther Cheptoo Keter, was a promising 200 metres and 400 metres runner, but the customs of the Nandi tribe meant that as the last-born daughter she could not marry and had to care for her parents in their old age. However, she was allowed to bear children to different men; thus, Jelimo was raised by her mother in a family of three brothers and six sisters. Jelimo began running in 2003, aged 13, at Koyo Secondary in the Kaptumo division, near Kapsabet. She quickly established herself as an accomplished athlete, winning at schools' championships in the 100 metres, 200 m, 400 m, 800 metres, 400 metres hurdles, and heptathlon. Her high school games teacher Philip Ng'eno remarked that she used to compete with the boys in sprint events as the girls did not provide the competition she needed.

The family was poor and struggled to pay the fees to send Jelimo to secondary school – her two older siblings had already dropped out as they were unable to meet the costs. She refused to quit and began selling milk from the family cattle to pay her fees, traversing steep slopes on foot to sell it at Chemase market. The school headmaster Daniel Maru donated money for track suits and running shoes so that Jelimo could attend Kenya's centre of excellence for distance running. By 2004, Jelimo had reached the local provincial championships in the 400 m. Maru continued his generosity, allowing the young athlete to graduate while she still owed one year's worth of fees. Still, her mother was forced to sell her last cow so Jelimo could take her exams. Her family always supported her education.

In June 2007 she finished fifth in the 400 metres race at the Kenyan Championships with a time of 55.82 seconds. She kept improving throughout the season, winning the 400 metres gold medal at the African Junior Championships with a finish of 54.93 s and setting a Kenyan national junior record in the 200 m with 24.68 s. Jelimo was pleased with her accomplishments but her new coach Zaid Kipkemboi Aziz suggested that she change to 800 m, stating that she would perform best over the longer distance. She began working for the Kenyan police force and was training with fellow Kenyan runner Janeth Jepkosgei.

Jelimo ran her first 800 metres race on 19 April 2008 at the Kenyan trials for the African championships, clocking 2:01.02 minutes. Despite her budding athletics career, she continued to work at the Embu Police station as a police constable, earning KSh.11,000/= a month (roughly €100).

She made her breakthrough at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics aged 18. Her time, 1:58.70, was a new national junior record. On 25 May 2008 she won 800 metres at the Hengelo Grand Prix event and set a new Junior World Record of 1:55.76. The previous record (1:57.18) was set by Yuan Wang of China in 1993. The previous Kenyan record was held by Janeth Jepkosgei (1:56.04 in 2007). On 1 June 2008 she ran an impressive 800 m race in Berlin and won the ISTAF Golden League in 1:54.99, a new African record. The previous African record (1:55.19) was set by Maria Mutola in 1994.

This section adapts selected passages from Pamela Jelimo by Wikipedia contributors. It is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected passages; pronunciation guides, lists and reference markers omitted; punctuation and paragraph breaks adjusted. Photographs have separate licences.