Peruth Chemutai of Uganda in action during heat 1 of the women's 3000m Steeplechase race on August 04, 2024 at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis.
At the Shining Light of God Ministries in Kapchorwa, eastern Uganda, a praise and worship session is underway.
The congregation is upstanding as the choir leads them in a song.
It is a Sunday, and we are here on the invitation of renowned coach Peter Chelangat who is also a pastor at the church. I identify some athletes, mostly dressed in track suits and sports shoes in the congregation.
Then I catch the familiar sight of 2020 Olympic Games 3,000 metres steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai. She is dressed in a black leather jacket and a matching dress.
She has just returned from the Prefontainne Classic Diamond League in Oregon, USA, where she posted a world leading time of eight minutes, 55.09 seconds to win the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase.
This is a Ugandan national record, and she achieved it in style by beating world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech from Kenya on May 25. She is attending the first church service since returning from Oregon. It is clear that prayer is a key pillar of her athletics career.
At some point during the church service, athletes take turns in leading the congregation in a song. Chemutai’s turn arrives, and, in the company of her training mates, she leads the congregation in a song, followed by a moving testimony on her successful pursuit of national record in women’s 3,000m steeplechase in Oregon days earlier.
“Praise the Lord Church, praise the Lord!” she says.
“I thank each and every one of you for the prayers and the support you gave me when I was in USA where I managed to make my country proud after running a national record and world leading time. This is a sign of good things to come,” she says amid cheers from the congregation.
Later, I engage her on her plans to defend her title at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. At the delayed 2020 Olympic Games held in 2021, Chemutai stormed to victory, winning gold ahead of USA’s Courtney Frerichs, and bronze medallist Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya.
“It was a good thing winning the Olympics title and as you know, Olympic Games come after every four years but this year we were lucky because it is happening after three years. Emerging the best in my specialty earned me goodies back here at home because the government has always been appreciating good performance from us,” Chemutai says of Uganda’s reward scheme that recognises award-winning athletes from the country.
She became the first woman to win Olympics gold medal for Uganda when she triumphed at the 2020 edition of the games held in Tokyo in 2021.
Chemutai admits that she faces tough competition from athletes from Kenya, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, USA, among other countries have tremendously improve in the race.
The Kenyan contingent will be led by world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech and the 2022 World Athletics Under-20 champion Faith Cherotich who qualified for the finals on Sunday.
Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Yavi, and Kenyan-born Kazakhstanis Norah Jeruto and Daisy Jepkemei will also be in the mix in what promises to be a tough race.
“I was excited becoming the first Ugandan woman to win Olympics gold medal in my specialty. Things will be difficult in Paris andit will take a good strategy for me to retain my title.
“Upon returning home (from 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo), President Yoweri Museveni told me that I was still young and there was need for me to win more medals and make our country proud, so I have to work hard in training because I know the world is not sleeping,” Chemutai, who is coached by Addy Ruiter from the Netherlands, said. She trains under coach Benjamin Njia while in Uganda.
Chemutai was winding up her preparation for the Olympic Games with long runs to improve her endurance, and speedwork sessions to help her sprint if it comes to that in competitions.
She was born in Bukwo District in eastern Uganda in 1999, and learnt at Chemron Primary School where she took up athletics at the age of eight. In 2015, she was selected to represent Uganda at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa where won silver medals in the 3,000m and the 1,500m races.
In 2016, she represent Uganda at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland where she finished seventh in the 3,000m steeplechase.
The same year, she competed at the the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro at 16 and finished 17th in her specialty. She competed at the 2018 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala and finished seventh in the junior category.
In 2018, she also competed in the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland and won silver in the 3,000m steeplechase race before emerging fifth at the Africa Championships in Asaba, Nigeria in the same specialty.
She represented her country at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark and finished fifth in the senior category. She finished in the same position at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha in the 3,000m steeplechase.
At the 2020 Olympic Games, she surprised the world by winning gold in the 3,000m steeplechase.
In 2022, she finished 11th at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, and improved this to bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, she finished seventh position but bounced back to win silver at the 2023 African Games in Accra.
She attributes her success in athletics to the husband Collins Chebet whom she says has supported her in training, and is always there for her.
