Chepyator-Thomson Speaks at Ithaca College

Rose Chepyator-Thomson, an associate professor of physical education and sport studies, opened a lecture series at Ithaca (NY) College on March 14 celebrating Women's History Month with a talk titled, "Women and Sports."

Chepyator-Thomson, a pioneering African track athlete and expert on sports in a global context, was born and raised in Kenya. While growing up during the 1960s in Kipconga Village in the Great Rift Valley, she was not encouraged to compete athletically. However, her persistence was rewarded with a host of honors. At the time that she did this, Kenyan women did not run in competitive events or on a world stage.

Competing in Africa's major track games in the 1970s, Chepyator-Thomson broke all records for that continent's 1,500- and 3,000-meter events. Though a member of the Kenyan national track-and-field team for the 1980 Olympics, she did not get to compete because her country chose to boycott the Moscow games in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The great Kenyan women runners today, including Tgela Loroupe and Catherine Ndereba, credit Chepyator-Thomson with paving the way for them.

After emigrating to the United States, Chepyator-Thomson was an 11-time track and cross-country All-American at the University of Wisconsin, where she earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. She is now known around the world for her work on Kenyan women and sport as well as her writings on facilitating more diverse and inclusionary perspectives and methodologies in the field of physical education and coaching. Her areas of expertise include curriculum and instruction in physical education as well as multicultural, African, and globalization issues in physical activity and sport.

For more on Chepyator-Thomson:
http://www.coe.uga.edu/kinesiology/faculty/index.html