Mum's passion set to power Kenya's Jelimo in Beijing (AFP)

NAIROBI (AFP) - For the love of her mother who couldnt make it big in athletics in the early 1970s, Kenyas Pamela Jelimo wants to reward her by striking gold in Beijing.

The 18-year-old, 800 metres athlete has taken the world by storm with her fleet-footed running in only her first year on the international track scene.

But it is her burning desire to appease her mother, Rodah Jeptoo Keter, whose own budding athletics career was to cut short by early marriage, that is propelling the teenager to greater heights.

"During her time there was no motivation in sports," she told AFP in an interview.

"Even then, when she was running well, people were tying her down. They were telling her: Dont go out there -- people are going to kidnap you."

Jelimo said her mother, who went on to give birth to nine children, with herself being the fourth born, would be happy to see her succeed in the sport which she failed.

"I am going to do my best in Beijing and improve where my mother did not reach. I want to make her proud," she added of her widowed mum.

Like her, Jelimo started as a 400m runner at Koyio primary school in Kenyas Rift Valley region, but only started running the 800m in April this year after, ironically being motivated to do so by her friend and training partner Janeth Jepkosgei.

She has now overshadowed her mentor Jepkosgei, who became the first Kenyan woman to win the world 800m title in Osaka last August.

Jelimo is quick to brush aside talk of rivalry saying Jepkosgei, who comes from the same village, is her best friend.

"Janet is actually my motivator. She is like my big sister because when I was training for the 400m and Janet was training for 800m. When we came together, she would urge me to train seriously saying: Pamela leave this sprinting and come and we can improve our performance in 800m."

Jelimo has beaten Jepkosgei in all the five meetings they have raced together since May but she remains philosophical about the likelihood of extending her winning streak over the Commonwealth champion in Beijing.

"In sports there must be a winner and a loser," Jelimo said. "There must be a number two and number one."

She is also full of praise of Maria Mutola, the retiring Mozambique legend whose African record she smashed on her way to winning the Berlin Golden League 800m on June 1.

With her awesome power, she has bettered that record with a new mark of 1:54.97 and remains unbeaten over the distance and is on line for sharing the Golden League million dollars jackpot with just two meetings in Zurich and Brussels.

Jelimo said the secret of her winning success is in her strict training programme where she is paced by a male compatriot and credits her Kenyan coach Said Aziz for instilling her with confidence on her first European Grand Prix season.

"My coach told me to go there to ascertain where I stand against the rest of the world. I found myself doing very well in my first race and this even motivated me to continue doing well," Jelimo said.

Aziz is equally upbeat.

"Pamela is a very disciplined girl. She is always willing to learn and to do her best," said Aziz, her trainer of three years, who decided to switch the runner from 400m to 800m because she stood a big chance of dominating the distance for many years to come.