'I reduced my running because of urine leaks' – Commonwealth finalist Korir

Naomi Korir's career on the track reached a high point in August when she finished fifth in the final of the mile at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

But things could have been very different for the Kenyan middle-distance runner.

The 28-year-old was born with fistula, a medical condition in which abnormal openings develop between organs and can lead to uncontrolled leakage of urine or faeces.

While Korir loved athletics as a child, it initially forced her to rethink any plans to be a runner.

"I played most of the sports activities: football, netball, athletics, even rugby," she said.

"But it was difficult because [of] the training, and the urine is flowing continuously. It's bad.

"I reduced my running to shorter distances to reduce the leaking.

"I began doing 100m hurdles."

Despite the challenges, Korir's love of sport also offered a form of escape and belonging.

"I could do it because I loved it," she explained.

"Because most of the people could avoid me, I did a lot of activities just to pass time and not to feel that I'm excluded."

The charity Doctors Without Borders estimates that 500,000 women live with fistula globally.

Some develop a fistula after childbirth while for others, like Korir, it is congenital.

Access to good obstetrics, or to simple surgery, means that the condition has all but disappeared in some countries, but it remains a problem in sub-Saharan Africa, where high quality medical care can be hard to access.

Korir was born with genitourinary tract fistula - an opening between bladder and vagina which caused her urine leakage.

Surgery was required, but her first two operations failed to solve the problem.

In August 2013, a third operation finally brought relief for the then 13-year-old.

The procedure was carried out in her home town Eldoret by the Gynocare Hospital, which specialises in fistula, obstetrics and reproductive health.

"It's a difficult condition to live with every day," Gynocare director Caroline Mabeya told BBC Sport Africa when discussing the stigma and isolation women with the condition suffer.

"They are ostracised in the society. That's the psychological torture that they face with the fistula."

The hospital has treated patients from across East Africa since opening its doors in 2011. Its work extends beyond surgery, with a post-operation programme designed to help women rebuild their confidence.

"We offer free treatment for these women at Gynocare because most of them are very poor," Mabeya explained.

"When they come into the facility, they are crushed, they have low esteem. So, there's a huge amount of effort that is put in to make them at least be strong enough to be reintegrated and get back into the community."

For Korir, successful surgery offered a second chance, both on the track and in the classroom.

As well as allowing her to run properly again, she continued her education through Gynocare's Young Fistula Programme.

"I have a family in GynoCare, a fistula home," she said.

"That is where I schooled after my surgery until I finished my secondary level."

In 2019, Korir began competing professionally and two years later was part of the Kenyan duo which claimed a silver medal in the 2x2x400m mixed relay alongside her partner Ferguson Rotich at the World Relays in Poland.

A year later she went one better, bagging gold as part of Kenya's 4x400m relay team at the African Championships in Mauritius.

The mile at this year's Commonwealth Games was her first appearance in major global final.

"I'm giving hope to young women maybe who have lost hope," she said of her achievements.

"They need to come back again in living and enjoying life."

Mabeya says Korir's transformation makes her a powerful example to the women currently receiving support at Gynocare.

"She makes them realise that you can actually pull yourself out of these struggles and still make it in life and succeed.

"Naomi actually is one of those patients that inspires us to continue working very hard, because we struggle with this condition and these women. The work is not easy."

As a young girl, Korir sang in church and played the keyboard, convinced that music was a more likely career than athletics.

"But now I'm in different career and I'm so happy," she beamed.

And with the World Championships in Beijing next year and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Korir believes there is another chapter to write.

"I know I'm a champion in life, because conquering fistula alone is being a champion.