Peres Jepchirchir wowed Kenyans and the world over after winning the Olympic women’s marathon in Sapporo on Saturday, August 7.
Jepchirchir beat fellow Kenyan and world record holder Brigid Kosgei in the closing stages of the race, going on to win the race in 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 20 seconds.
The 27-year-old beat all the odds stacked against her to ascend to glory in the world of athletics but had to endure many obstacles in her quest to become a success in long-distance running.
In an inspiring story of struggle and pain in her early years, the Olympic champion narrated to KTN News how she overcame insurmountable challenges to become a champion as well as overcome extreme poverty.
The Olympic marathon winner narrated how she lost her mother at age two. Her father had three wives with Jepchirchir's mother being the second wife.
Jepchirchir comes from a family of 24 children and revealed her childhood struggle with poverty as she at times had to go without food.
She dropped out of Kosirai Girls High School in Nandi due to a lack of school fees, and turned her focus to an alternative endeavor, deciding to try her shot in athletics.
Jepchirchir narrated how she would have to walk for five kilometres to Sambut Primary School every day, and got adopted by her uncle David Barno who helped raise her.
“We are 24 siblings and that is why I decided to work hard because we had very minimal resources at home. Life was not that easy. Small scale farming was the only source of income for our family,” recounted Jepchirchir.
Peres Jepchirchir started out wanting to be a nurse but ended up taking to athletics as her dreams were squashed by the impediment of a lack of school fees.
Back in May, Jepchirchir posted juxtaposed photographs of their former mud-walled and grass-thatched house, and her new modern house, which she says was a move "to inspire young and budding athletes" who are in their struggling phase.
Jepchirch used to run alongside her older schoolmates and was so fast that her uncle admitted she was hard to catch when he wanted to punish her for mistakes she had done.
