Pauline Konga is known as the four foot nine hero who broke a glass ceiling in the world of athletics. She earned the prestigious title of being Kenya’s first female to win an Olympic medal leading the way for scores of other Kenyan women who have since shown the world that we are non-stop athletics champions.
But perhaps we could take you back to the events that led to her crowning moment. Konga’s athletic career began at 20 at the 1990 World Cross Country Championships in France. At the time, Olympic medals had only been bagged by men. Pauline was eager to change this sequence and even more so determined to raise the #KeFlag. Her first attempt at competitive endurance running didn’t earn her a win but Pauline remained steadfast. There was more practice and learning for her and in the years that followed.
In 1992, Pauline qualified for the Barcelona Olympics where she raced in the women’s 3000m finishing 17th. It wasn’t until she qualified for the women’s 5000m four years later in Atlanta that did we see a powerful finish from Konga. The event was watched by over 80,000 people and her lead began within the first 100m of the race. On the sixth lap it was her against China’s Bhina Wang. The pressure was immense and Pauline made Wang dig deep to earn gold. In the end, our country sportswoman came in second, earning her a silver medal.
It took six years of practice for Pauline to emerge victorious in track. The following day the standard newspaper headlined Pauline, describing her as the woman with a heart of a lion and bravery with determination to match.
When asked how she felt about her medal, Pauline simply responded “I feel the silver medal is the gold of my dream. I however have no time for celebrations, there are other races to be won.”
1996 was certainly Pauline Konga’s year to shine and she went on to win the Marrakech half marathon, running her personal best of 15:00:14 in Rome.
Pauline’s victory remains in our hearts. We salute and celebrate you for breaking gender barriers in athletics.
#KeWachezaji #OurFlagBearers 🇰🇪