2008 Olympic Games silver medalist Janeth Jepkosgei has disclosed that she was on the verge of switching her citizenship from Kenya to Bahrain.
Jepkosgei, who is regarded as one of the best 800m female runners to ever don the Kenyan jersey, made the revelations during a televised interview on NTV on Monday night.
According to her, she had already made the decision to compete for Bahrain due to the frustrations of failing to get a chance to represent Kenya at the senior level, despite winning the national trials several times.
“In 2002, I was in IOC (International Olympic Committee). I went to Jamaica, won the nationals three times and I was not selected for the world championships until 2006. So, in 2005, I met some guys, there was this move of going to Bahrain and Qatar and I had all my papers plus all the money in the papers.
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So, after closing the season in Italy, I went to Athletics Kenya and met the late Isaiah Kiplagat and told him I wanted to change so that I could run for Bahrain,” she narrated.
Jepkosgei, who is widely known as Eldoret Express, adds that the late Kiplagat, who was the then Athletics Kenya (AK) chairman, advised her not to change citizenship and promised to include her in the national team.
He told me “Ok, I am like your father, this is nothing. Next year you will be in the team. Do you want to go to the Indoor or Commonwealth?” explained the mother of one.
The one-time world champion accepted the offer and was able to make her maiden first team appearance in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
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Jepkosgei, who retired in 2018, made the golden chance count by winning the 800m title at the games, beating the likes of Mozambique’s Maria Mutola in the process.
“I knew I was in good shape because I was already training with Claudia, and in the last 200m, I knew I could kick, but during the race, I remember I was inside and I had to make a move.
When I made a move, Maria also did it, and I said, ok, we go. I won the race and all the cameras were on Maria. I went to celebrate with the Kenyans on the other side. I could not believe it,” she described how she felt after attaining the remarkable feat.
After the Melbourne success, Jepkosgei went on to represent Kenya in various international competitions and managed to win several medals including a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
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