WAC: Ewoi over the moon after bagging 1500m silver

The 28-year-old, US-based athlete dug deep in the last 100m to ease past Australia’s Jessica Hull and compatriot Nelly Chepchirchir, bagging her first major global medal.

When she won, she celebrated with so much grace with Faith Kipyegon, who cheered her on to the finish line in the semis—surprised by her mettle to bag a medal.

“I feel so blessed, coming on here to get the experience and personal best is incredible,” she said.

As per her script, her target in the championship was to get to the final but upon realizing she could medal as she approached the finishing line, she unleashed a strong kick, running a personal best of 3:54.92 to finish second.

“The point was to make it in the final, put everything in, and see what would happen in the end. In the last 100m I saw myself getting a medal, and I was like, “I need to get this medal.”

Aware of her lack of experience in the three-and-a-half-lap race, Ewoi, at best, expected to better her previous personal best of 3:59.25, only for the race to be in her favour.

“My coach was telling me, ‘Just go out there, be happy, you made it all the way here, you are healthy, just push yourself, do not push too hard, don’t panic, and if the race is moving way too hard, just enjoy your moment,” an overjoyed Ewoi said.

She added that the competition was stiff and she couldn’t imagine getting past Nelly and Hull, but her confidence and resilience paid off.

“I did not think I could get Nelly or Jess Hull, but I had to push to the line. I was like, “If I can’t get any medal, I will get a huge PB,” so I just pushed the normal 150 strides that I normally do, and I got Nelly, and I was like, I got this.”

To her, all the basics she had done in training worked.

Ewoi only decided against switching to the 1500m race from the 800m earlier this year after feeling the two-lap race couldn’t give her the room to excel.

She then qualified for the World Championships after coming third during the national trials held at Ulinzi Sports Complex in July.

Faith Kipyegon didn’t feature in this event, thanks to her wild card as the reigning champion.

Unknown to her, two months later, she would qualify for the final and proceed to win the country a silver medal.

She became the third Kenyan woman in history to win a 1500m medal at the World Athletics Championships after Hellen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon.