Why Margaret Chelimo is elated despite fourth place finish at World Championships

ATHLETICS Why Margaret Chelimo is elated despite fourth place finish at World Championships

Abigael Wafula 16:30 - 28.08.2023

Chelimo was going up against some of the greatest long-distance runners including Faith Kipyegon, Sifan Hassan, and Beatrice Chebet.

Former World 10,000m bronze medallist Margaret Chelimo is content despite missing out on the podium by a whisker in the women’s 5000m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Chelimo was going up against some of the greatest middle-distance runners including double world champion Faith Kipyegon, double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, and Beatrice Chebet and she had her work cut out.

However, she knew she would finish among the top eight but a fourth-place finish was not on her mind as she was running. During a post-race interview, Chelimo was over the moon, explaining how she managed to finish fourth despite initially not believing in herself.

During last year’s edition of the World Championships, Chelimo also finished fourth in the women’s 5000m but managed a podium finish in the 10,000m.

“The race was good…I am so happy to finish in fourth place. I was not expecting that result and I was hoping to finish among the top eight. On my side, I can say I’m impressed with the results.

"I noticed I was running in fourth place and I decided to push hard and luckily I finished fourth,” she said.

In the hotly contested race, Kipyegon carried the day as she sprinted to the finish line, going head-to-head with Hassan who finished second.

Commonwealth Games 5000m champion Beatrice Chebet had no choice but to settle for third place and Chelimo followed closely.

She recounted that the 5000m race is not always easy since an athlete needs to have the finishing kick in order to do well.

“5000m has really changed…if you can’t sprint or lack a finishing kick around the 300m mark, then you can’t do well.

"Back then, people usually sprinted from around the 100m mark. At the moment, people need to do more 100m races during training,” she said.