Jamal ready, eager to follow up on ’07 success

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia- After a busy season in 2007 where she became the first Bahraini woman to win World championship gold, 1500m specialist Maryam Yusuf Jamal says she has to keep up her ambitions in order to sustain her good form for years to come.

“2007 was a great year for me,” she says. “But unless I keep up the good form in 2008 and further, it would mean very little to me. My result is not a coincidence. It is the result of hard work.”

Visits to Bahrain and native Ethiopia

But before she started her early season preparations this year, the 23-year old decided to make two important visits away from her home in Lausanne, Switzerland. The first was to Bahrain where she spends less than a month every year because of her competition and training commitments.