Kenya: Young Runner Purity Chepkirui Tipped for More Glory in Future Competitions

12 September 2023
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Omondi Onyatta

Nairobi — The 2021 World Under 20 1500m champion Purity Chepkirui has been tipped for great things in the future after a successful stint in the junior ranks.

Athletics Kenya (AK) youth development committee chair Barnaba Korir described the 20-year-old as a talented athlete who has worked hard to reach where she has.

"Purity Chepkirui has done really well and she's performed extremely well in the competitions she has participated in, including the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. We will work with her to help her grow," Korir said.

Chepkirui has come a long way since her first race in July 2021 when she upset a star-studded field to win the women's 1500m at the World Under 20 Pre-Trial Championships at the Nyayo Stadium.

She was one of the first products of AK holiday athletics training camps in 2020/21, which was meant to select probables for World Under 20 Championships that were held on home soil.

Commenting on the project, AK said the federation remains relentless in their efforts to tap young talents at the earliest opportunity, just like in the case of Chepkirui.

"This is not the first time we are doing this...we have done this before (setting up training camps). We have seen the crucial improvement and the great performances of these athletes. We are really proud and we want to continue with the talent development programmes we are doing with Talanta Hela," Korir said.

He was speaking on Monday afternoon during a homecoming ceremony for Chepkirui at Tiloa Athletics Camp in Kuresoi.

"It has been a great day...especially bringing together all the community, the leaders as well as the MP (Kuresoi North MP Alfred Mutai). They (stakeholders) have shown they really want the athletes to do well...the Ministry of Education and the TSC," Korir said.

He added: "We are looking to set up a camp at Sirikwa and we are thinking that that one should be exclusively for boys because this one here (Tiloa) is for girls. It is a very good idea that we have had."

The ceremony was organised by Kuresoi North MP Alfred Mutai.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Capital FM. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.