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The retired British middle distance runner has explained why she fells comfortable training in Kenya.
Retired British middle-distance runner Marilyn Okoro has opened up on her preference to train in Kenya, three years after hanging up her spikes.
The Olympian, who specialised in 800m and 4x400m relays, retired in 2021. She said she was always motivated by the passion the school going kids in Kenya had irrespective of the challenges they faced.
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10:23 - 13.10.2024
Kenyan coach on whether Ferdinand Omanyala, Wiseman Were & Co should shift training base to USA
The tactician has weighed in on whether shifting training base to America would be a good thing for Kenyan sprinters such as Ferdinand Omanyala and Wiseman Were.
Speaking to the England Athletics Podcast, Black History Month, the 40-year-old who was self-sponsored since 2012 said: "I love training in Kenya because when you see those school kids barefoot, walking, jogging at altitude miles to school, and they've got the biggest smile on their face, and I'm trying to keep up with them, it's just, that's something that fueled me so much".
Okoro, who is England Athletics board member, went on: "They never complained like they don't have this, and I don't have that. The champions mindset, grace and space and patience are crucial for one to succeed."
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10:28 - 22.10.2024
'He's such a relentless coach' - Masai Russell credits Olympics success to her strict trainer
The pair have worked for six years, and the Paris glory is a sign of the remarkable transformation
The 2008 Beijing Olympics 800m bronze winner has ventured into the corporate world and celebrated her three years working with a company called Equinix last week. When quizzed on how the transition from the track to the corporate world has been, she said: "For me, everything starts with the mind. How I ran was with a champion mindset. So that translates into everything that I do. And I aways define it as just being willing to do whatever it takes to achieve what you want. One of the things sports taught me very early on was that it's OK to fail, but make sure you fail forward".
Okoro is at the forefront of championing athletes' welfare, a move she says is born out of passion. "In my two decades as an athlete, I felt like running gave me a purpose. It connected me with other people. I was really fascinated to try and achieve the unachievable and defy odds. Any pain I felt in my life I want to turn it into my purpose because I believe in storytelling and sharing your story to empower others. I think sometimes when you go through hard things in life, a prevailing emotion is shame."
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