- Dorcus Ewoi stunned the world when she won a silver medal in the women’s 1500m at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo
- Ewoi, who hated running as a child, was unfancied, but she produced the race of her life to finish second behind Faith Kipyegon
- TUKO.co.ke sat down with her for an exclusive chat about that run in Tokyo, why she lives in the United States and many more
When she crossed the finish line in the women’s 1500m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Japan on September 16, she collapsed on the track, her new status as a world medalist seemingly weighing her down.
Source: Getty Images
The build-up to the final had been dominated, and understandably so, by just one name: Faith Kipyegon, who tore the field apart to win a record fourth title. But behind Kipyegon’s shadow, Dorcus Ewoi became an overnight sensation, running the fastest she has ever run, to win her first major medal.
Miles away in Kapkarwa village in Trans Nzoia county, western Kenya, her parents were in tears.
“They cried. They were so happy. I usually update them on my career and progress, but they were so surprised. My mum always told me that I had grown so tiny and insisted that I should eat more, but after the result, she understood why I had made the sacrifices,” said Ewoi.
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What followed was pure gold. She lit up social media with a hilarious explanation of how she pipped Australia’s Jessica Hull and her compatriot Nelly Chepchirchir to second place. Kenyans fell in love.
Dorcus Ewoi: From Kitale to world stage
So when we eventually sat down for this interview on a quiet Thursday afternoon, I partly knew what I was walking into: a funny person, a lovely character and more recently, a world silver medalist. But where did it all begin?
Clad in a black denim jacket, a matching top, brown trousers and white shoes, Ewoi warmly welcomes me at Stadion Hotel at Kasarani Stadium, Team Kenya’s base in Kenya’s capital.
Just that morning, she, alongside the rest of the team that represented Kenya in Tokyo, had met President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi.
“Everything has been chaotic, but it has now sunk in that I am a world silver medalist.”
Source: Getty Images
Dorcus Ewoi was forced to run
Ewoi’s rise to fame didn’t begin like the typical stories we are used to. Born in a family of nine children, she hated running and to her it seemed like a punishment.
“I didn’t like running. I didn’t understand why someone would just run around. What are you chasing? I was forced to run by my P.E teacher, Patrice Mutai. They needed someone to run in the interclass competitions. I think I was second or third.”
In high school, she still didn’t see running as a serious path. In fact, during school holidays, she joined training camps mostly to dodge chores at home, like farming and tending to animals.
Unknown to her then, it was in these camps where she got the opportunity that became her turning point, changing her mindset and how she felt about the sport.
How Wesley Korir helped Dorcus Ewoi
In late 2014, 2012 Boston Marathon champion turned politician Wesley Korir started Transcend Running Academy, whose aim was to sponsor high school runners in Kenya. Korir served as a member of parliament for Cherangany between 2013 and 2017.
Source: Instagram
Ewoi got wind of the trials where she finished fifth and was selected to be a part of the inaugural class.
Transcend Running Academy
Part of the sponsorship meant that she transferred from Kapkarwa Secondary school, a day school, to St Francis Girls, a boarding school with better facilities.
“The training was better and more structured. We were given everything from shoes to track suits, things that we were not getting previously. My performance started to improve, and I got to the national level of the secondary school games in the cross-country,” says the Grey’s Anatomy fan.
Korir used to host the academy, a group of around 20 young runners, in his house during the holidays for more training sessions for two weeks before sending them home for a week’s break.
“Wesley has done so much for us in Cherangany. He was a disciplined athlete, a trait he has carried in his life after athletics.”
In 2017, given that it was her final year in high school, she quit running to focus on her studies. When the results of her final secondary school exams, KCSE, were released, Ewoi had excelled and received a phone call from Korir.
“He had promised us university scholarships outside the country if we did well in our KCSE. He said it was easier to get a school abroad if one had performed well and was a talented runner. So when he called me to congratulate me, I had to quickly get back in shape after more than one year out.”
Life in the United States
In August 2018, she left the country for South Plains College in Texas the United States of America, to do a course in Biology. She initially wanted to do nursing, but didn’t get enough credits to be enrolled on a nursing course.
“It instantly dawned on me that this wasn’t a joke anymore. It was so hot, and the training was very intense. It was so tough to balance both training and running in a new country,” she says, smiling.
“You have to prove to the coach that you weren’t chosen by mistake. Na hakuna mama yako huko mwenye unaweza enda kumlilia (and your mother isn’t there whom you can go and cry to).”
Ewoi competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) before she transferred to Campbell University in North Carolina in 2020, where, like everyone worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted her rhythm.
In North Carolina, she started competing in the NCAA championships, where she posted mixed results. At one point, she clocked 4:06, a performance she termed ‘horrible’. She got motivated by her uncle, Paul Ereng, the 1988 men’s 800m Olympic champion, to keep going.
After graduating in 2023, she enrolled on the nursing course she initially wanted to do but made a promise to herself to give athletics one last chance.
She met her coach, Alistarr Cragg, a former athlete who won a gold medal for Ireland at the 2005 European Indoor Championships. It was through this that she was eventually signed by Puma in 2024.
“I met a very supportive coach who took me to an altitude camp while footing all the bills for five weeks. In my mind, I wanted to get the nursing degree, but at the same time, I wanted to give my all to running. I didn’t want any regrets in future.”
After the camp, she noticed an immediate change in her results, where she clocked a sub-2 in the 800m. At the 2024 Holloway Pro Classic, she defeated the then-Olympic champion Athing Mu, which boosted her morale.
Early this year, she received an invitation from Athletics Kenya (AK) to participate in the national trials for the World Championships. AK was only picking the first two athletes in each category, provided you had the qualification standards set by World Athletics. The third slot was reserved for AK’s panel to pick.
How Faith Kipyegon impacted her race
She finished third behind Chepchirchir and Susan Ejore, but luckily for her, Kenya had an extra slot since Kipyegon was the defending champion in the event.
She didn’t know it then, but this was the first of many instances where Kipyegon indirectly and unknowingly helped her win the medal in Tokyo.
When you run alongside a triple Olympic champion, the world record holder, among many other hats Kipyegon wears, your perspective changes.
“The longevity she has had in this sport is crazy. She is so humble, so sweet, so encouraging and an amazing lady.”
In the semi-finals, she was in the same heat as Kipyegon. The former women’s 5000m world champion was spotted beckoning Ewoi to close the space, encouraging her to dig deep and qualify for the finals.
“I knew the race would be fast because Faith was there, or she would spread it in such a way you knew where you were,” she says.
Source: Getty Images
“We had agreed with my coach that if Faith made a move, I would go with her. Faith told me when she looked back, all she saw was red, and we were the only ones in red. She asked me to move forward, and I followed.”
How Dorcus Ewoi won silver in Tokyo
The semis were mentally exhausting for her, but she only had one day to recover and regroup. She admits that she was initially nervous, but as the race day grew closer, she made peace with the fact that she had nothing to lose.
“When I looked back at where I came from, the amount of work I had put in, and here I was in a major final, I was so proud of myself. We were only 14 in that final. I was already top 14 in the world, what else could go wrong?”
“My coach told me I looked comfortable in the semi-finals. I had managed to go with Faith, and he insisted that I was ready for the final. He also said that he was proud of me, no matter what happened.”
Come the race, Ewoi planned to hang with the group until the last lap before Kipyegon, as expected, would employ her devastating kick.
“The pre-race jitters were there. This was the biggest race of my life. In the warm-up area, I questioned even if I knew how to run. Once the gun went, I positioned myself so well because Faith, Jessica and Nelly were all within reach,” she reminisces.
“The first 1200m breezed past, and I was still within striking distance. I don’t know where the energy came from, but I decided to go for it. I was running, but I was also amazed at myself. Like what is happening? I have never screamed like that at the finishing line. I am always calm, relaxed. I forgot who Dorcus was.”
Source: Getty Images
It took a while, but it eventually dawned on her that she was now a silver medalist. Looking forward, she is now adamant that she can even do better after clocking a new personal best of 3:54.92.
As we wrap up, she laughs when I ask her what she would have told the young Dorcus, who was forced to run.
“She should have listened. Dorcus should have listened a long time ago. People used to tell her she was talented, but she thought they were just saying it for the sake. But I am sure that small Dorcus is so happy right now.”
Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
