Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir added a World Championship gold into her fabled collection when she clinched the global title in Tokyo early Sunday morning. The 31-year-old clocked two hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds to win her first ever World Championship crown, edging out Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia.
The win came just months after Peres had pulled out of the London Marathon due to injury. Speaking to Telecomasia.net after her victory, the marathoner said she wasn’t expecting to do that well immediately after returning.
Peres Jepchirchir
It was devastating to pull out of London earlier on in the year. I had picked up an ankle injury in training and the doctors advised me to take a total rest of two months to avoid complicating it further and maybe making it a stress fracture. I just listened to them and then returned to train for the Worlds. I honestly didn’t expect to win but I am really delighted. The weather was also not very conducive but I put in my best and also was motivated by Beatrice Chebet’s victory on day one and I wanted to add a gold for Kenya.
Chebet clinched Kenya’s second gold at the World Championships and says this was special to her because of the circumstances of her return.
