{"id":1244932,"date":"2022-11-05T22:58:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-05T22:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/05\/viola-lagat-aims-to-honour-the-late-agnes-tirop-in-new-york-marathon\/"},"modified":"2022-11-05T22:58:44","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T22:58:44","slug":"viola-lagat-aims-to-honour-the-late-agnes-tirop-in-new-york-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/11\/05\/viola-lagat-aims-to-honour-the-late-agnes-tirop-in-new-york-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Viola Lagat aims to honour the late Agnes Tirop in New York Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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<\/span>
Viola Cheptoo Lagat finished second in last year\u2019s New York Marathon on what was her debut over the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kenyan marathon runner Viola Cheptoo Lagat says she will be driven by the desire to win for murdered compatriot Agnes Tirop during Sunday\u2019s New York Marathon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lagat finished behind Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir on her marathon debut in the American city last year before dedicating her silver medal to Tirop, who was <\/span>found dead at her house<\/span> three weeks prior to the event.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the 33-year-old is determined to go one better at this year\u2019s famed five-borough race as she aims to honour Tirop.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to work hard to win for her this time,\u201d Lagat told BBC Sport Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mind is in a good place and I\u2019ve got really good training in this time around. I feel stronger and I know the field is also strong, but I know the spirit of Agnes is still going to fight with me like last time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to let anyone down, especially the spirit of Agnes that has fought with us from the beginning. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a tough field, but I\u2019m going in feeling strong and I hope most of my hard work in the last few months is going to take me through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lagat clocked two hours 22 minutes and 44 seconds in New York last November \u2013 which remains her personal best marathon time \u2013 crossing the line <\/span>five seconds behind winner Jepchirchir.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was one minute and three seconds slower as she finished sixth in the Boston Marathon in April this year, but is expecting another fast race in the \u2018Big Apple\u2019 this weekend. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tirop\u2019s Angels<\/h3>\n
\"Agnes<\/span><\/span>
Agnes Tirop was a two-time bronze medallist at the World Athletics Championships over 10,000m<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tirop finished fourth in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics in August last year and Lagat was with her a few weeks later when she smashed the women\u2019s-only 10km world record in Germany, crossing the line in 30 minutes and one second.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Lagat recalled her marathon debut in New York last year, she admitted her thoughts rarely strayed from reflections on her slain compatriot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason I kept reflecting on the race that I watched \u2013 Agnes breaking the world record in Germany \u2013 because we were there [together]. I ran the half marathon that time,\u201d she added. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got to New York, it would flash in my head. I was thinking \u2018I hope I won\u2019t get distracted in the middle of a race and just lose it\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I finished, I thought \u2018You know, that was God\u2019 and I feel like Agnes wanted me to do it that way.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Lagat has begun work to honour her friend, coming together with other athletes and Tirop\u2019s family to form <\/span>Tirop\u2019s Angels,<\/span>external-link<\/title><\/svg><\/span> a foundation that aims to stand in unity against gender-based violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The death of Tirop, whose husband Ibrahim Rotich \u2013 who denies wrongdoing \u2013 is awaiting trail for her murder, has also changed her perspective on athletics, her own career and women who may be facing abuse in their domestic lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know she was going through that and I could never assume anything,\u201d Lagat said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would see women going for their rounds, and I\u2019m waving at them without knowing what they\u2019re dealing with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we know now is that there are [female] athletes who have been forced to go to races even when they\u2019re not healthy to make money for somebody who is sitting and waiting for her pay cheque. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so blessed I don\u2019t have to do that. I\u2019m running with a clear mind so I have to keep doing this \u2013 and I have to win for those women who cannot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

New York on her mind<\/h3>\n

Lagat expects a strong challenge on Sunday, with debutant Hellen Obiri, defending champion Jepchirchir and Emily Sisson among the entrants.<\/span><\/p>\n

She has her eye on fellow Kenyan Obiri, a two-time world champion and double Olympic 5,000m silver medallist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I did last year, when I debuted in New York and came second, I\u2019m starting to think that people who debut can actually surprise you and they can come for your money,\u201d Lagat said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know Obiri\u2019s going to come ready. She already knows what the field looks like. In fact, she\u2019s top of my list of the people that I\u2019m really scared about. I think about her all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith people you are familiar with, it is easy to calculate their moves and what they\u2019re going to do, but for somebody like Obiri you never know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Viola<\/span><\/span>
Lagat faces competition from fellow New York Marathon medallists Ababel Yeshaneh and Peres Jepchirchir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elsewhere, Lagat expects a fast race given what she describes as a \u201ctough field\u201d heading to New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the Chicago Marathon, there is Emily Sisson who broke the American marathon record and she will be aiming to win,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor New York, it\u2019s hard to tell because it\u2019s a really tough course. I believe it\u2019s going to be faster than last year. If everything goes right, there will be a course record in New York this year probably.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to be among those breaking the record. I don\u2019t want to call myself a winner ahead of everything \u2013 I\u2019m just going to pray and hope everything goes well. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTop three is still going to be good but you go to a race to win, so that\u2019s my biggest goal.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As is honouring her late friend, whose memory Lagat will carry over the streets of New York. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viola Cheptoo Lagat finished second in last year\u2019s New York Marathon on what was her debut over the distance Kenyan marathon runner Viola Cheptoo Lagat says she will be driven by the desire to win for murdered compatriot Agnes Tirop during Sunday\u2019s New York Marathon. Lagat finished behind Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir on her marathon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1244934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1244932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}