Milcah Chemos Cheywa resolves to attack the 3000m steeplechase record in Belgacom Memorial Van Damme
Milcah Chemos Cheywa, the 25-year-old runner who specialises in the 3000m steeplechase, has expressed the resolve to take on the world record at next month’s Belgacom Memorial Van Damme meet. The event, which is the final leg of this year’s Samsung Diamond
League series, will kick-off on Friday, September 16.
The Mount Elgon born girl, who has named twelve of the thirteen 3000m races since 2010, marked her personal best of 9:08.57 while running at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. The formidable finish had earned the Kenyan a bronze medal in
the world event.
Born in a far flung village in Kenya, Cheywa had later shifted to Kitale along with her family where she had her initial schooling at the St Phillips primary school. After completing her primary school, she joined the St. Claire’s Girls School present in
Maragoli and graduated from there, where she got enrolled in the Kenya Police College, a springboard which played a foundational role in preparing her as an impeccable runner.
Her husband, Alex Sang, who is also a strenuous middle distance runner, was the driving force behind developing Cheywa’s potential for running.
Besides earning a ticket to Daegu, the Kenyan has also secured her entrance to this year’s Diamond Race. So far in 2011, the strenuous runner has secured all her Samsung Diamond Races. From Doha to Rome and from New York to Lausanne and London, she has been
the only dominator on the field.
Cheywa, who is being considered as a favourite for the title at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, while commenting on her feelings about the next month’s Samsung Diamond League final, said, “There is no pressure whatsoever for me in the Samsung Diamond
League Final in Brussels, therefore I hope to fulfill my great dream and that is to beat the 3000m Steeplechase World Record by Gulnara Samitova.”
The present world record in the 3000m steeplechase is possessed by Samitova, the Russian runner, which stands at 8:58.81, marked during the Olympic Games in Beijing which culminated in making her the event champion. The time clocked by the Russian athlete
is the only under-nine finish so far.
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