Pamela Jelimo

Breakthrough and Olympic Gold 2008 She made her breakthrough at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics aged 18. Her time, 1:58.70, was a new national junior record. On 25 May 2008 she won 800 metres at the Hengelo Grand Prix event and set a new Junior World Record of 1:55.76. The previous record (1:57.18) was set by Yuan Wang of China in 1993. The previous Kenyan record was held by Janeth Jepkosgei (1:56.04 in 2007). On 1 June 2008 she ran an impressive 800 m race in Berlin and won the ISTAF Golden League in 1:54.99, a new African record. The previous African record (1:55.19) was set by Maria Mutola in 1994.

On 18 July 2008 she bettered the record slightly to 1:54.97 in Paris. It was also her fourth consecutive win in ÅF Golden League, where she was one of only two remaining jackpot contenders, the other being high jumper Blanka Vlašić. On 18 August 2008 Jelimo won gold in the 800 metres at the Beijing Olympics. Her time was 1:54.87, again a record. She became the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

She continued her unbeaten streak by winning the Weltklasse Golden League meeting in Zurich on 29 August 2008 improving her personal best to 1:54.01. This was the third fastest performance ever, behind only Nadezhda Olizarenko and the world record of Jarmila Kratochvílová. At the Memorial van Damme competition in Brussels, the ÅF Golden League final, Jelimo won the 800 metres with a time of 1:55.16. As the only athlete to win the same event at all six Golden League meetings, she won the competition's jackpot of $1,000,000. The only other remaining, Blanca Vlasic, failed to win the last event. She is the first Kenyan to win Golden League jackpot.

She crowned her unbeaten season by winning her race at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. After the event she returned to Kenya for the first time since the Olympic trials and was welcomed by major festivities. On 18 September 2008 in Kapsabet Town, a street – Pamela Jelimo Street – was named in her honour.

Jelimo was shortlisted for the IAAF World Athlete of the Year women's category alongside Yelena Isinbayeva and Tirunesh Dibaba, but the award was won by Isinbayeva. Jelimo was awarded the IAAF Revelation of the Year Award and the 2008 Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Instead, she started her season in April at the Athletics Kenya meeting in Kakamega, running 200 and 1500 metres races for training purposes. On 23 May she ran her first 800 metres race of the year at the Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat, Morocco, finishing sixth (time 2:02.46) – it was the first 800 m race that she did not win. Two weeks later she finished last at the Prefontaine Classic meeting in Eugene, Oregon. Due to these dismal results, she concentrated on training for over a month. She successfully returned to track by winning the Heusden-Zolder meeting on 18 July running under two minutes (1:59.59).

She competed at the 2009 World Championships but did not finish her semi-final.

Jelimo returned to competition in April 2010, winning the 800 metres race at the Athletic Kenya meeting in Nakuru. She finished 8th at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China. She failed to qualify for the 2010 African Championships held in Nairobi.

At the 2011 Prefontaine Classic she finished last in the 800 metres race, timing 2:09.12, almost nine seconds behind the second last runner, Jemma Simpson. It was Jelimo's best time of the season recorded by IAAF.

2012 comeback Jelimo celebrating her win at the 2012 World Indoor Championships. Jelimo had a promising start for the 2012 season finishing second behind Malika Akkaoui of Morocco in an indoor meeting at Lievin, France, running eason was crowned by gold medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, improving her time to 1:58.83 seconds. She was almost a second ahead of the silver medallist Nataliia Lupu of Ukraine.

She began the outdoor season with a win at the Doha 2012 Diamond League meeting in a meeting record time of 1:56.94 minutes. She was beaten by Fantu Magiso at the Golden Gala, but was victorious at the Kenyan trials and then set a world-leading time of 1:56.76 at the KBC Night of Athletics.

At the 2012 Olympics, Jelimo finished in fourth place. In November 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended two Russian women who finished in first and third be given lifetime bans for their doping violations at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has issued disqualification for Mariya Savinova. The IOC in 2024 disqualified the other athlete. The IOC Executive Board has as yet not reallocated the silver and bronze medals.

Personal life Jelimo's love life has remained private though she had a close relationship with a runner in late 2007. It was not revealed in public until December 2008.

Achievements Personal bests Correct as of 2026. All information from IAAF profile.

Competition record