Berlin, Germany – In less than 1 minute and 55 seconds at this afternoon’s DKB-ISTAF Meeting in Berlin, Pamela Jelimo underscored that there indeed is a new name in town in the women’s 800 metres.

In what was apparently only her fifth outing – including heats – over the distance, the 18-year-old (5-Dec-1989) produced yet another jaw-dropping performance just a week after her breakout 1:55.76 run at the FBK Games in Hengelo. This time, she stopped the clock in 1:54.99 to find herself in the rarest of company in the history of her event. Only five women have ever run faster. No one has run faster in nearly 11 years, and in just her second race on the international circuit, she has already supplanted legendary Maria Mutola as African record holder.

But to her teenage eyes, those statistics mean little. All she knows is that she can continue to run faster.

“This one was a bit more difficult than Hengelo,” she admitted. “It was much more tough. But I’m glad that I improved by a second.”

Trailing pacesetter Tatyana Andrianova from the outset, only Tetyana Petlyuk of Ukraine decided to follow the pace which, at 55.46 for 400m, appeared to be too slow for the impatient Jelimo. She forged to the front immediately beyond the bell, and for a time was even on World record pace. The ambitious third 200m stretch did eventually take its toll, as she slowed dramatically over the final 50 metres. She nonetheless left runner-up Yuliya Krevsum a staggering four seconds behind.

“You know in Hengelo there was a big difference,” Jelimo said, comparing her two races. “Here the pace maker crossed 400m in about 54 or 55 seconds, which means I crossed in about 55 or 56 seconds. So I had to continue more quickly.”

“As I was once a sprinter, maintaining speed for 400 metres is simple to me. But now continuing is a little more difficult.”

Before her victory at the African Championships trials in Nairobi on April 19, where she clocked 2:01.02 in what was apparently her first race, Jelimo was a sprinter with modest credentials by world standards. She won the African junior 400m title in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, last year, with a personal best 54.93, and clocked a national junior record of 24.68 in the 200m. These days, those are nearly the splits she’s running over two laps.

“At my training my coach saw that I could do much better than I had done in sprinting. He saw that I could use my sprinting to my advantage in the 800 metres.”

Jelimo began competing in athletics at 13, guided towards the sport by her teachers in Kapsabet in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

“When I was in secondary school our teachers were very strict,” she recalls. “And they were able to motivate us in training and then they say that I could be good in athletics. So I began competing.”

After more serious training the past year, Jelimo said, “I saw that I could do much better in the 800 metres. And after running at the African Championships in Ethiopia, at high altitude, I saw myself getting better and really progressing.”

Jelimo wanted the test that progress in Berlin to see what she’d be able accomplish just eight days after her breakthrough, thus her late entry.

“Because I ran in Hengelo then I decided to run in Berlin because I wanted another good race. And I wanted more exposure before going back home and preparing more for the Olympics. Going to the Olympics requires more exposure and experience, so this race makes the Olympics more possible.”

Next up, she said, is a full focus on Beijing.

“Now we are preparing for the Olympics, and the qualifications. And this race showed that we can do even better.”

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF