Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya celebrates winning the women's 800m final (© Getty Images)
Since her breakout 1:55.76 performance in Hengelo in the waning days of May – the first of three World junior records over a span of eight weeks - much has been written about Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo, so it’s best to be succinct: undefeated in eight races, Jelimo has produced the year’s five fastest runs*, and currently sits in the No. 6 spot all-time after her most recent outing, a 1:54.97 run in Paris.
Not bad for an 18-year-old who prior to this season considered herself a sprinter and who hadn’t even contested the 800m until the 19th of April this year. And she’s already the African record holder.
Since first making waves with her win at the African Championships – perhaps fittingly, African legend Maria Mutola finished second to ‘officially’ hand over the continent’s reign - her unbeaten streak has included wins in Berlin, Oslo, Rome and Paris, easily handling the best the world could throw at her, to remain in the hunt for the $1million AF Golden League Jackpot.
Just how dominant has Jelimo been? Her average margin of victory over her last six races was an astounding 3.34 seconds, a margin unprecedented at this level. No one has produced as many sub-1:56 runs in one season, and for the first time, serious debate has ensued as to how long Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28 World record, which this summer marked its 25th anniversary, will last.
Barring major catastrophe, the race here, on paper anyway, appears to be for second and third.
Finishing second and third in many of those contests dominated by Jelimo was Janeth Jepkosgei, who just three short months ago would have been most observers’ overwhelming favourite for gold. With the event seeking a new standard bearer one year ago, Jepkosgei admirably took on and filled the role. She reinvigorated the event with her sterling front-running victories in the Osaka final and semi-final last August and capped her season with commanding victories in Zurich, Rieti, Brussels, and the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.
Then of course came Jelimo, the young women from her own village in Kenya to whom she gladly dispensed training advice and racing tips. Her 1:58.52 season’s best is well down the 2008 world list, but there is little doubt that Jepkosgei will be ready to put her protégé to the test on the world’s biggest stage.
Others in the mix include Ukrainian champion Tetyana Petlyuk (1:58.38 this season), the World Indoor silver medallist, who will be looking to make amends for ending her Osaka performance in the semi-finals. Although her 1:58.54 barely ranks her among the world’s 15 fastest at the moment, Moroccan Hasna Benhassi always arrives prepared. The reigning Olympic silver medallist, the 30-year-old finished second at the two editions of the World championships since Athens. After a pair of medals in the World junior ranks, Lucia Klocova of Slovakia has been gradually developing into a solid contender. Third in Hengelo, the runner-up in Oslo and winner in Ostrava, the 24-year-old tuned up with a 1:58.51 career best in Paris where she finished second.
Jamaican Kenia Sinclair will be looking to rediscover the form that brought her World Indoor silver in 2006, Cuban Zulia Calatayud is hoping for the form that brought her 2005 World outdoor gold in Helsinki, while the Russians* will be well represented by Tatyana Andrianova (1:56.00) and Svetlana Klyuka (1:56.64).
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
*NOTE: World season's fastest Yelena Soboleva (RUS) has been provisional suspended for doping violations
