Due to financial difficulty, she began selling milk from the family cattle to pay for her fees, sometimes having to walk long and steep distances to get to the market. After a running gear donation by her school's headmaster, she began to attend Kenya's Center of Excellence for Distance Running. Jelimo says she remembers running barefoot when she was younger, and also ran as a way to support herself and her 9 siblings.
After winning gold in the 400m race at the African Junior Championships, her coach suggested she change to the 800m race. She ran her first 800m race on 19 April 2008 at the Kenyan trails for the African Championships. She set a new junior world record of 1:55;76 at the African Championships in May 2008, which was also a new Kenyan record. She also set a new African record in June 2008 at 1:54.99. After winning all 6 IAAF Golden League races, she won the competitions jackpot of 1 million dollars, becoming the first Kenyan to do so.
After developing an achilles strain during training in 2009, her performance greatly declined finishing sixth in Morocco and last in Oregon. She also failed to qualify for the 2010 African Championships in Nairobi. She made a comeback at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Turkey winning the gold medal.
Jelimo is married and serves in the Kenyan Police Force where she is a constable. She also farms part-time and invested her Golden League winnings in her Koyo Dairy Farm.
Pamela is so humble, and we wish her the best in London 2012. It will be a tough one between her and Caster Semenya in the 800m race.
