Lornah Kiplagat: Why multiple World Champion was forced to sleep inside a public toilet

Three-time world half marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat had a tough start to her impressive running career.

Kiplagat, who switched her allegiance to the Netherlands in 2003, graced her first major race with nothing but the determination to make it in the competitive athletics industry.

The then 20-year-old athlete made the long trip from Kabiemit, a little-known village in the heart of Nandi County, to Nairobi in 1994 to participate in the Kenya Cross Country Championships.

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The athlete, who was accompanied by her ally, recently revealed that she had no option but to sleep in a public toilet due to lack of funds.

“My friend and I looked for some boxes, locked the toilet from the inside and covered the mouth of the toilet and slept on either side till morning. It was the safest place we could think of to sleep since we didn’t have money,” she told Al Jazeera.

To make matters worse, the inspiring runner took part in the race the following day in an empty stomach – she did not have any food for over 20 hours.

Little did Kiplagat knew that her difficult background would one day make her fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a star runner.

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The 2005 Beach to Beacon winner went on to become a Dutch legend, winning several medals for her adopted nation including the 2006 World Road Running Championships and the 2008 World Half Marathon Championships gold medals.

She also came back to haunt Kenya during the 2007 World Cross Country Championships staged in Mombasa when she outpaced the Ethiopian duo of Tirunesh Dibaba and Meselech Melkamu to win a gold medal for the Netherlands.

Kiplagat stopped the clock at 26:23 in that memorable race ahead of Dibaba and Melkamu who clocked 26:47 and 26:48 respectively.

Some of Kiplagat’s other achievements include the 2005 European Cross Country Championships title, two Los Angeles Marathon titles, four Falmouth Road race titles, and three Tilburg ten miles titles.

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Besides taking the athletics world by storm, Kiplagat was also an innovative entrepreneur, engaging in various businesses.

Some of her popular startups include a clothes brand called Lornah Sports and the High Altitude Training Centre (HATC) domiciled along the Iten – Eldoret road, a few kilometres from the home of champions.

The state-of-the-art facility has a modern gym, swimming pool, and saunas. It also boosts of the only tartan track in Kenya’s Rift Valley region.

Kiplagat’s story influenced some of her relatives including Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet and Hilda Kibet who went on to leave a mark in the world.

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