Ajee' Wilson And Charlene Lipsey Have A New Training Partner

Ajee' Wilson And Charlene Lipsey Have A New Training Partner

University of Texas alum Kendra Chambers is now sponsored by Oiselle and will train with American record holder Ajee' Wilson and Charlene Lipsey in Philadelphia.

Oct 19, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
Ajee' Wilson And Charlene Lipsey Have A New Training Partner
USA world team members Ajee' Wilson and Charlene Lipsey are gaining a new training partner: Kendra Chambers, a University of Texas alum who joins coach Derek Thompson's Philadelphia-based group after training with Rose Monday in San Antonio for the past few years.

Women's athletic apparel brand Oiselle announced in a press release today that Chambers, their newest sponsored athlete, would be moving up north to join the elite group.


"Ajee and Charlene are both close friends of mine off the track, so…. it's going to be A LOT of fun," Chambers writes in the Oiselle Q&A. "I have a feeling I am going to suffer for the first few months, but I'll get through it! Overall, just excited to join a group of high caliber athletes. The next few years are really important, so this was a big decision for me to make as a professional. I want to surround myself with the best. It's okay if you're not there yet. But if you put yourself in the right position, you never know what could happen."

Thompson's group is the single best women's 800m training group in the United States as both Wilson and Lipsey made the world team this summer. Wilson captured bronze at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and shattered the 17-year-old American record in the event with a time of 1:55.61. Since joining Wilson a year ago, LSU alum Lipsey has made huge strides under Thompson's program, as she lowered a two-year-old PB in 800m from 2:00.6 to 1:57.38 and placed second behind Wilson at the USATF outdoor championships to make her first world team. 

Chambers is 27 years old, one year older than Lipsey and four years older than Wilson. She set her PB of 2:00:76 in Lignano, Italy, last year. Chambers has yet to make a U.S. final, but neither had Lipsey before she started training with Wilson.

The group is not without a little bit of controversy. Both Wilson and Lipsey broke the American indoor record for 800m at the Millrose Games this past February but Wilson's mark was later nulled after she tested positive for zeranol. The positive test was said to be triggered by eating contaminated beef and Wilson was let off with a warning.