Returning Chemos to step up from steeplechase

Steeple chaser Milcah Chemos during her Commonwealth Games Training session at Kasarani Stadium on 02-07-2014.PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO

At a tender age while at St Phillips Tuyo-Koony Primary School in Saboti, she used to run but lost interest midway and took up football.

Athletics did not excite her, but she did not know what lay ahead.

She later joined St Clare’s Maragoli Girls, and there too, her interest remained in football. Years later, at Kenya Police Service College in Kiganjo, her latent athletics talent came to the fore and before long she was the Berlin 2009 3,000m steeplechase silver medalist.

This is the story of 31-year-old Milka Chemos Cheywa, inspired by her husband Alex Sang, who as coach has transformed her into a great athlete.

“My transformation from football to athletics is amazing. I had no interest though I began running at a young age. But my interest in athletics waned.

“I played football to the national level, only to return to my first love – athletics. I didn’t know my path would lead me to a successful career in athletics,” Chemos told journalists in Kisumu during a workshop ahead of World Under-18 Championship slated for July 12-17 in Nairobi.

Chemos, who was plagued by injuries in 2014, now says she is back to her best form and would shift to 5,000m and 10,000m before shifting to marathon.

“I have shifted to 5,000 and 10,000m and you will see me debut the races this year,” said Chemos.

She added: “The change has been occasioned by the back problems I experienced in 2014, which gives me a lot pressure especially in jumping over hurdles.”