Two phone calls that pushed Edmund Serem to World Championship bronze

“The world record holder was with me, the Olympic champion, World champion, former Diamond League winner, they were all there.”

For a 17-year-old making his debut in the senior ranks, there were enough reasons for Edmund Serem to give in to the pressure at a noisy Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

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In his short spell during this year’s Diamond League, not much could have replicated what the World U20 gold medalist was about to face when he lined up in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final on Monday, 15 September.

But though a newbie, Serem, thanks to the community around him, felt right at ease in the lung-busting race, before delivering on his promise to walk home with a memorable bronze medal.

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Shortly after his exploits, the youngster spoke of how two key figures - his elder brother and mentor- played a key role in settling some of his nerves, and lending him a hand in marking his new high.

“Before the race, I was anxious of course,” Serem said post-race. “It was my first world championship, and to run the final with all these legends was something amazing.

I got encouragement from my mentor Eliud Kipchoge. He called me in the morning, encouraged me, and told me ‘Edmund you are going to do this’”.

And if a call from a man who won his first World Athletics Championships gold medal aged 18 in 2003 was not enough, another one from his bloodline made the message clearer.

“My brother Amos is also a steeplechaser. He is injured right now, but this morning I had a one-hour call with him,” added Serem.

“He said: “If you will do your work with a cool head, if you stay calm and clever, you can do everything. Go out and come back home with a medal.”

Edmund and Amos Serem/Facebook

That might have been the cue the teen sensation needed, as he ran his race to near perfection, staying in the right place to unleash a late dash to the line for a place on the podium.

"The race was very slow from the beginning and I was not planning to run in front,” Serem said.

“Unfortunately, I was in lane 2, so I was boxed in, and I had no other option than to run inside and to face the rest.”

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With the last barrier negotiated, Serem still looked unlikely to grab a medal, but used his lane positioning and final kick to sprint past Ryuji Miura, Lamecha Girma and Samuel Firewu for bronze.

“This medal means a lot to me, this is encouraging me and giving me more hope that good things are coming,” he said.

With experience on young shoulders, a high chance then, for him to walk the talk in future.