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Former New York City marathon champion Sharon Lokedi spent most of last season plotting for her biggest test yet, running the Olympic marathon course
2022 New York City Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi has concealed how running for her life as a teenager later turned out to be running for her best life in her athletics career.
The 30-year-old was amongst thousands of internally displaced persons (IDP) forced to flee their home in the Rift Valley area, a region that had suffered recurrent election violence at the age of 14.
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07:57 - 15.08.2024
'We fought for the gold'- Sharon Lokedi lauds women's marathon team for their efforts at Paris Olympics
Despite missing out on the gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games, Sharon Lokedi has lauded Peres Jepchirchir and Hellen Obiri for their efforts in the women's marathon.
Returning home, after life as an IDP, was the impetus for the running career of Lokedi who is the oldest of four children that grew up in the athletics-rich Burnt Forest. She would run to-and-from school daily, for about four kilometres. Her running peaked in high school, but she never considered pursuing it further.
“After high school I didn’t really know what life would be like. I had stopped running, and my mum said, you know, you can start running again. There are scholarships being offered and stuff," she presumed, adding that her mother's advice was mind-boggling.
"Just the thought of that made me think, Maybe if I do that, it would change my life, it would change the life of our family,” she said in an interview with her sponsor according to Olympics.com.
Lokedi relocated to the US in 2015 for her studies. She went on to study nursing and business at the University of Kansas. She competed in track and cross country from 2015 to 2019. She was a 10-time All-American at Kansas and won the 10,000m NCAA title in 2018. “I am glad I made that decision. Where we are right now, I never thought I would be here. It was a different environment,” she added.
Lokedi spent most of last season plotting for her biggest test yet - running the Olympic marathon course. It was an honour representing Kenya at the Games after nearly a decade away in the U.S. “I had to learn everything, from speaking American English to using a computer, among other things.”
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