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Kenya: Athletics - Tears of Joy for Young Star Cheptai
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The Nation (Nairobi)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Chris Musumba
Nairobi
Exactly one year ago, she cried her heart out and did not even bother to wipe out the trails of her salty tears left on her young cheeks. Her world was falling apart, very fast. Her dreams were shattered and fate sealed.
She could not come to terms with missing out of the Kenyan team to the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa in what would have been her first race in Kenyan colours.
Irene Chebet Cheptai had looked to the championships with a lot of excitement and hoped to make a name for herself on the Mombasa Golf Club course.
Running barefoot, Cheptai, then just 15 years old, was unknown when she finished fourth at the national trials for the global contest. She was certain of having secured a slot in the national team.
She was indeed named in the provisional 36-member squad for the Mombasa run but could not understand how the coaches were so cruel as to leave her out in the final team.
When the Kenyan team's names were read out by Athletics Kenya secretary general David Okeyo, Cheptai could not believe hers was missing.
"I did everything that the coaches wanted. I ran ahead of the pack, took all instructions and gave it an extra shot just to catch the eye of the coach. I pushed my body to the limit, but, alas, I was out of the team.
Shoulder to cry on
"It was too much to bear, I gave it everything, my dreams, my pride and hopes were dashed, all in a moment.
"How was I going to face my parents, peers and friends? They had bet on me doing it and their trust was on me. It was too much to bear," said Cheptai.
Her training mate and cousin, Pauline Korikwiang, gave her a shoulder to cry on.
But it was training mate, Fridah Domongole, who gave her the encouragement to look beyond the incident and focus on the days to come.
Later, after she had settled down, the coaches explained why they dropped her. It was simply because she was under-age.
"That was better news for me to hear. It was not that I was bad. I had the potential and it was only a matter of time before I showed the world my true potential," she said.
The coaches gave her the opportunity to go to Ostrava, Czech Republic, where she took part in the World Youth Championship, finishing seventh in the 3,000 metres race.
This was the first time she was competing on the international arena, and the new experience and exposure was an eye opener to her.
Cheptai has since come back and wants to claw her way up to the top. With many of the athletes who edged her out having risen up the ranks to the senior team, she has been drafted in Kenya's junior team to the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh this Sunday.
Together with Christine Kambua, Cheptai intends to help Kenya extend its firm grip on both the individual and team titles of the six-kilometre junior women's race in the Scottish city.
Born to Susan and Jackson Cheptai in Kaptabok village of West Pokot, Cheptai did not take up athletics until just two years ago.
Running about three kilometres twice a day to and from school, she had build up her endurance and developed running skills that had an edge over her rivals in the elementary level.
She first competed for her Kaptabook Primary School in 2006, but could not go beyond the provincial level as she was beaten by established runners during the North Rift championships in Eldoret.
But she did not give up hope and went back to join Korikwiang and Domongole in training in Kaptagat with coach Geofrey Ptormos.
A year later, Cheptai reaped the fruits of her hard work when she triumphed in North Rift championships in Eldoret and went on to finish fourth in the national trials at the Ngong racecourse, running barefoot in her first visit to the capital.
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But her dreams were cut short when she was left out because she was not below the minimum age of 16 prescribed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Linet Masai went on to win gold in the junior men's race at the Mombasa global event as Kenya swept the top four medals before an excited home crowd.
But not only Cheptai has suffered such humiliation. In 2005, Doris Changeiywo, now in the Armed Forces and in Kenya's senior team to Edinburgh, was left out of the Kenyan junior team under more disturbing circumstances.
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