Nairobi Countdown
Beatrice Chebet, Kenyan Long Distance Runner
We are counting down 84 days to the big event and are celebrating two pioneers in the under 20 category, Beatrice Chebet and Ita Nao Leshan. Beatrice Chebet is a Kenyan long-distance runner who was born on March 5, 2000. In 2018, she won the World Under-20 5,000m, and in 2019, she won the World Cross-Country Championship.
Chebet won the Kenyan Under-20s 5000m in June 2018 at the age of 18. She became the first Kenyan woman to win the 5000m title at the World U20 Championships a month later, and the first non-Ethiopian to do it since 2006.
Beatrice Chebet of Kenya celebrates after winning the women’s 5000m final during day one of The IAAF World U20 Championships on July 10, 2018 in Tampere, Finland.
The top three athletes in the Women’s U20 race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Chebet and the Ethiopian trio of Alemitu Tariku and Tsigie Gebreselama – were all given the same time of 20:50 because they finished together. Tariku was initially declared the champion, with Gebreselama receiving a silver medal. Chebet was, however, correctly awarded the gold once the photo finish footage was reviewed.
She won Kenya’s U20 National Cross Country Championships in 2019 and now trains at Kericho County’s Londiani.
Ita Nao Leshan throws a javelin at the World Under- 18 Championship starts at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, July 13, 2017
Ita Nao Leshan, the African Under-20 javelin champion, is hoping to beat Nareej Chopra of India’s current world record of 86.58 meters. The athlete aspires to break the record during the World Under-20 Junior Championships, which will be held in Nairobi from August 17 to 22nd 2021.
Leshan finished eighth with a mark of 64.66 meters at the 2017 World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi. He’s gotten better over time, and his current personal best is 75.66 meters. He hopes to throw 90 meters during the upcoming contests, with the goal of shattering the world record and making the Olympic team.
Leshan believes that with the right shoes and sufficient preparation, he may surpass Julius Yego’s national record of 94.92m, which he set as an Olympic silver medalist and past World champion. “Other competitors are beating me because of the shoes, and the meetings do not supply a javelin for minor athletes. All I can do now is pray and hope that the Lord will help me.
Ita Nao Leshan throws during the final of the boys javelin on day two of the IAAF U18 World Championships at the Kasarani Stadium on July 13, 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya.
“This is my final year in the junior group (2021). My main goal for this year is to beat the world junior record, so I’m now focusing my training on that. I am confident that everything is possible; if individuals can throw 94 meters, we can certainly do so. “I am confident that I will meet my goal of 90 meters and make the Olympic team,” Leshan added.
The African champion in the javelin, who finished fourth in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2018, trains without a coach, although he says Julius Yego and Coach Joseph Mosinik, who provides him training routines, are his role models.“Yego is my role model. I strive to emulate his methods and workout regimen. Leshan stated confidently, “I hope to write more history in javelin.”
Leshan is a Narok County native.
