A grand celebration was held at Kaylet Athletics camp in Kipkelion West Sub-County to honour the 3000-metre steeplechase under-20 world champion Faith Cherotich.

Officials from the camp, led by Cherotich’s coach Bernard Rono, and the community organized the colorful ceremony  over the weekend in honour of Cherotich, who has made a breakthrough in the recent world events.

The form four student at Kalyet Secondary School surprised many in last month’s World Cross-Country championships in Bathurst, Australia where she came in position four in the 6 KM junior race that was won by Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew.

Cherotich is last year’s 3000m steeplechase world champion after bagging gold during the World Athletics U20 Championships held in Cali, Colombia.

The world champion also clinched a bronze medal in the same event staged in Nairobi in the year 2021, plus other achievements in her budding athletics career. Speaking during the ceremony,Cherotich vowed to continue doing well. She also promised to break the world record in the steeplechase.

“I thank all those who have supported and prayed for me so as to enable me to scale the heights of athletics.

I want to promise, I will not let them down. I am striving to do even better and break the world record,” she asserted.

Cherotich’s current personal best is 9:06 in 3000m steeplechase while the world record in the junior 3000m Steeplechase currently stands at 8:58.

She is gearing up for the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, where she is upbeat about smashing the world record.

Her coach Bernard Rono is equally optimistic that the rising star will break the world record in 3000m steeplechase before she graduates to the senior women’s race.

The tactician revealed that in the past one and a half years, Cherotich has bagged five medals in both the local and international competitions.

The tactician revealed that in the past one and a half years, Cherotich has bagged five medals in both the local and international competitions.

On his part, Athletics Kenya (AK) Kericho branch chairman Japheth Kemey praised Cherotich for the achievements so far adding that she is destined for a bright future in athletics.

He further called on the stakeholders to support upcoming and promising athletes in order to help them to achieve their dreams of becoming celebrated sportsmen and women in the country.

Kemey at the same time urged camp managers and coaches to stick to the rules and regulations set by AK, warning that those doing the contrary could result in closure of the camps.