Naomi Korir takes fifth in Glasgow mile after long road to global final
Naomi Korir finished fifth in the mile final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It was the 28-year-old Kenyan's first appearance in a major global final.
The mile, at 1,609 metres, is just over four laps of a standard track. For Korir, simply lining up mattered. Her path to the start line ran through childhood illness, three operations and a restart as an athlete.
Korir was born with fistula, a condition where abnormal openings develop between organs and can cause uncontrolled leakage of urine or faeces. In her case it was a genitourinary tract fistula, an opening between bladder and vagina that caused urine to leak, BBC Sport reported.
Running made the leaking worse. She told the BBC she cut back to shorter distances to cope and switched to the 100m hurdles, where the effort is brief and sharp.
Her first two fistula operations failed to solve the problem. Relief came with a third operation in August 2013, when she was 13. That successful surgery was carried out in Eldoret by Gynocare Hospital.
Gynocare specialises in fistula, obstetrics and reproductive health and has treated patients from across East Africa since opening in 2011. Korir stayed within its system after surgery, continuing her education through the hospital's Young Fistula Programme until she finished secondary school.
Fistula remains widespread. Doctors Without Borders estimates that 500,000 women live with the condition globally.
Korir began competing professionally in 2019. She won silver alongside Ferguson Rotich in the 2x2x400m mixed relay for Kenya at the World Relays in Poland, an event where a woman and a man alternate legs over 400 metres. She then won gold as part of Kenya's 4x400m relay team at the African Championships in Mauritius.
Her early global championship experience came indoors over 800 metres. She ran 2:03.94 to finish sixth in her heat at the Belgrade 22 World Athletics Indoor Championships, according to World Athletics records.
Her recent form has been over longer and shorter road and track tests. In February she won the senior women's 2km race in Eldoret in 6:42 after catching the leaders in the final kilometre, World Athletics reported. In August she was named alongside Brian Komen to contest the mile races for Kenya at Copenhagen.
What makes this stand out is the distance she has travelled. Fifth wins no medal. It does put a runner who once shortened her races to manage illness into a global final over one of the sport's most storied distances — and leaves her with a place to build from.
