by Larry Eder
Mercy Cherono, photo by Claus Andersen
Mercy Cherono wins gold in the women 5000m in Glasgow, by Justin Lagat
Mercy Cherono led her fellow compatriot, Janet Kisa to win two medals for Kenya in the women 5000m event; a gold and a silver medal. England’s Jo Pavey finished third to win a bronze medal for her country after battling for it with another Kenyan, Margaret Muriuki who settled for the fourth position.
The Briton had been ahead of the Kenyans coming to the bell, but after the pace was cranked up in the last 200m, all the three Kenyans were able to overtake her, but not for long before she reacted again in time to catch Muriuki on the home stretch and prevented another clean sweep of the podium positions for Kenyans in this event.
Having won in two meetings at the IAAF Diamond League series and tied at the lead in points with Genzebe Dibaba, Mercy Cherono was definitely the main contender for the gold medal here. None of the other athletes who were going to compete with her here had even one Diamond League point, and that only served to show how she was in a class of her own here in Glasgow. The gap between her and Janet Kisa kept stretching rapidly as she kicked towards the finish line to cross it in 15:07.21, Kisa finished in 15:08.90 while Jo Pavey finished in 15:08.96.
Janet Kisa is still new on the senior stage of running, but started this year well by winning a silver medal at the African cross country championships in Kampala, Uganda. Her silver medal here in Glasgow adds great value to her profile and will also be important in boosting her self-confidence as she seeks to establish her name more as a senior athlete.
Jo Pavey’s bronze medal performance was inspiring given that she is a 40 year old mother of two with her youngest child being only ten months old. The fact that she has been there on the limelight competing for many years, since 1988 up to now, shows that she is self-disciplined and focused on her career. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Melbourne Games while she was a 32 year old.
At the 2010 Delhi Games, Vivian Cheruiyot had led two other Kenyans to a 1-2-3 podium positions at this event, but for now, the double champion is still slowly getting back on a competitive form after being away on a maternity leave. Hopefully, we are going to see her, the “pocket rocket”, in action again very soon.
