Lagat ready to announce her arrival in style

Kenya’s training camps continue to churn out new athletes with every championship. The arrival of Viola Lagat has perhaps prompted a rummage through the roots of her history and what has gone into the making of this champion.

Lagat, 26, will be the dark horse in Kenya’s 1,500m team at the Beijing World Championships, to be held in the Chinese Capital from August 22-30.

While the world’s focus will be on Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba after she set a world record during this year’s Monaco Diamond League in the four-lap race, Lagat will wait on the periphery to pounce and announce her arrival at the big stage.

“I am very happy to have made the Kenya team,” she said. “I have been focused on other things and academics and never gave athletics its due respect. But it is my brother (American and former world champion Bernard Lagat), who encouraged me to take up running and I am now enjoying the moment.” Indeed, Viola is too excited about the prospect of donning the Kenyan jersey and she is teasing her brother of the reversed roles as he will be watching her compete. “I am too happy. When the kits arrive, I wear them and let my brother know how proud I am to represent Kenya,” she said. “I have been competing in Arizona and Florida and won in cross-country and track competition in USA. I can’t wait to get that uniform.”

Kenya will be represented by three athletes in the women’s 1,500 metres led by Commonwealth Games 1,500m champion Faith Chepng’etich, Nancy Chepkwemoi and Lagat.

Chepng’etich will be making her second shot at the global championships after she graduated from the junior ranks. Two years ago in Moscow, she settled for fifth spot with a time of 4:05.08 in a race in which Kenyan Helen Obiri won the bronze medal.

This was a year after her debut as a senior at the London Olympics, where she failed to qualify for the semis. The athlete, who trains at Keringet Athletics Club, has a personal best of 3:56.98 set in 2013.