| Tegla Loroupe always wanted to run. When she was a child, Loroupe used to run for miles chasing the cattle on her family's farm near the Ugandan border.
It took Loroupe only a few years to make a huge impact on women's long distance running. In 1994 she became the first African woman to win the New York City Marathon. At the Rotterdam Marathon in April 1998, she set a new world record of 2 hours 20 minutes and 47 seconds -- taking 19 seconds off the previous mark. The following year she sliced a further four seconds of the record at the Berlin Marathon.
Many believe Loroupe will eventually go under the mythical 2 hour 20 minute barrier, although she's more concerned with continuing to enjoy her running.
"Because you love to do something -- it's not something that somebody's forcing you to do," Loroupe says. "Sometimes I feel tired but I say to myself I chose this way so if I have to continue and be strong."
Loroupe has already blazed a trail for other female athletes in Kenya. Winning a gold medal in the marathon in Sydney would doubtless inspire many more Kenyan women to follow her courageous lead. |
Kenya