Newly crowned 2022 TCS New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi’s journey to athletics success is an inspiring one.
The 28-year-old was among the thousands of Kenyans who were affected by the 2007 post-election violence.
Then, a 13-year-old village girl, Lokedi and her family ran away from their home in Burnt Forest to seek refuge in a nearby forest.
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Burnt Forest was one of the areas that was mostly affected by the skirmishes that occurred after the announcement of the presidential elections on Thursday, December 27.
Her family left everything behind and ran to safety when the situation got worse in the locality which was predominantly occupied by two communities.
“You leave everything. When you start running, you can’t bring anything,” she was quoted by the University Daily Kansan.
After the end of the violence, Sharon returned to her village and resumed her normal activities, including schooling.
It was while she was in class 7, that Lokedi discovered her athletics talent.
At primary school, she triumphed in almost all competitions to the point that Kapkenda Girls High School offered her a chance to study at the institution.
When Lokedi completed her KCSE exams, she landed a scholarship in the United States, precisely the University of Kansas, where she studied a course in Nursing and Business.
She continued with her studies while sharpening her athletics skills.
Her major win came at the 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) when she bagged the 10,000m title.
In her Marathon debut in New York City on Sunday, November 6, Lokedi defeated top names including the current world champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and compatriot Hellen Obiri to bag the coveted title.
She destroyed the New York Marathon course to reach the tape in a time of 2:23.23 in warm conditions.
Sharon was closely followed by Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, who switched her allegiance from Kenya to Israel and Gebreslase.
Salpeter and Gebreslase clocked 2:23.30 and 2:23.39 respectively.
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