Nairobi, March 14 (IANS) Olympic 800m champion Pamela Jelimo says she will not rest on her laurels until she successfully defends her crown in London.
Jelimo was speaking to reporters after arriving from Istanbul, where she launched her comeback with a gold medal in the 800m.
"It feels good to win and run against the best in the world. But the pressure is still on. I feel that this performance is not enough to convince anyone of my return from injury. There were a lot of good athletes who were missing from the World Indoor Championships."
"These are athletes who can turn around the races and win on their good day. So in London, there is more to come and I want to go back and train and be ready for the battle again," Jelimo was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
She said she will now immerse herself in training and hope to return with an enhanced reputation to stamp her authority at the Olympics in July-August. It is the same feeling that surprise 3,000m World Indoor Champion Helen Obiri is having.
Obiri who was tripped and fell in the finals of the 1,500m in Daegu, South Korea last year, said she felt relieved that her struggle to ascend to the top has been rewarded sooner than she expected.
"I did not know how to celebrate. I have never known what it feels like to be a champion. It was surprise to me that I beat Defer (Meseret). It was tactical and there was a lot of pushing and shoving, but when finally I saw we were still together in the last lap, I realised that I could go for it and switched the gears and saw nobody responding," said Obiri.
Now, she hopes to return to her specialty in 1,500m in the build up to the Olympics. "It is now good that Olympic champion Nancy Jebet Lagat is also back to full training after a series of injuries."
"But it will be tough and as we prepare for the Olympics, it will be down to training tactics and that is why I look at Lagat's return as a blessing as it will relieve me of the pressure to succeed again in London," said Obiri.
Team manager Barnabas Korir said it was the best performance by Kenya in the championships and said it will point to what the world should expect in the Games.
Jelimo was speaking to reporters after arriving from Istanbul, where she launched her comeback with a gold medal in the 800m.
"It feels good to win and run against the best in the world. But the pressure is still on. I feel that this performance is not enough to convince anyone of my return from injury. There were a lot of good athletes who were missing from the World Indoor Championships."
"These are athletes who can turn around the races and win on their good day. So in London, there is more to come and I want to go back and train and be ready for the battle again," Jelimo was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
She said she will now immerse herself in training and hope to return with an enhanced reputation to stamp her authority at the Olympics in July-August. It is the same feeling that surprise 3,000m World Indoor Champion Helen Obiri is having.
Obiri who was tripped and fell in the finals of the 1,500m in Daegu, South Korea last year, said she felt relieved that her struggle to ascend to the top has been rewarded sooner than she expected.
"I did not know how to celebrate. I have never known what it feels like to be a champion. It was surprise to me that I beat Defer (Meseret). It was tactical and there was a lot of pushing and shoving, but when finally I saw we were still together in the last lap, I realised that I could go for it and switched the gears and saw nobody responding," said Obiri.
Now, she hopes to return to her specialty in 1,500m in the build up to the Olympics. "It is now good that Olympic champion Nancy Jebet Lagat is also back to full training after a series of injuries."
"But it will be tough and as we prepare for the Olympics, it will be down to training tactics and that is why I look at Lagat's return as a blessing as it will relieve me of the pressure to succeed again in London," said Obiri.
Team manager Barnabas Korir said it was the best performance by Kenya in the championships and said it will point to what the world should expect in the Games.
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