Jacinta Maraguri: The Turning Point That Proved Lilian Odira Was Ready to Make History

Lilian Odira’s coach, Jacinta Maraguri, has explained when she knew the world 800m champion would be Kenya’s next big thing in the two-lap race.

The Kenyan 800m sensation shocked the world to claim top honours in the women’s 800m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Lilian Odira crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 1:54.62, erasing the long-standing record of 1:54.68, set by Czech legend Jarmila Kratochvilova back in 1983.

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She won the race ahead of the Great Britain duo of Georgia Hunter Bell and Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, who came in second and third in 1:54.90 and 1:54.91.

Lilian Odira had been impressive from the start of the campaign, winning her respective heat and semifinal before making a mark in the final.

Jacinta Maraguri explained that she knew Lilian Odira would make history in the 800m after she qualified for the Paris Olympic Games.

At the Kenyan Olympic trials, Lilian Odira won the 800m in 1:59.27, ahead of Mary Moraa and Sarah Moraa. At the Paris Olympic Games, Lilian Odira clocked a personal best time of 1:58.53, but it was not enough to make the final of the women’s 800m final.

“After she qualified for the Olympics at the Ulinzi Sports Complex…that’s when I knew that she is a big deal now. Going to the Olympics, I think it was the first hurdle, and she did well, and she came out with a personal best time and being in the semifinal, we had already achieved something,” Lilian Odira’s coach said on Sporty Monday.

“Now, we came back and restrategised, and our aim was to get a medal at the World Championships, not knowing the colour of the medal, but our first thing was to get to the final. We wanted to make it to the final first and then know the tactic to use so that we could make the podium.”

Lilian Odira’s rise from Olympic semifinalist to world record-breaking champion shows how belief, planning, and persistence turned her potential into history-making success.