James Kwalia C'Kurui (born James Kwalia Chepkurui on 12 June 1984) is an athlete who represents

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

after switching from his homeland

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Specializing in the

3000 3000 or ''variation'', may refer to: * 3000 (number), the number three thousand * A.D. 3000, the last year of the 30th century and the 3rd millennium CE * 3000 BCE, a year in the 3rd millennium BC * 3000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 4 ...

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

, his personal best times are 7:28.28 minutes and 12:54.58 minutes respectively. He was born in Trans Nzoia. He is the current holder of the Asian indoor record over 5000 m which he broke in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

in February 2009.

Biography

He had his first success while competing for Kenya when he won the bronze medal in the 3000 m at the

2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the second edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Debrecen, Hungary 12–15 July 2001. Results Boys Girls Medal table References External links results< ...

. His first senior medal came at the

2004 IAAF World Athletics Final The 2nd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 18, and September 19, 2004. The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco sta ...

, where he took the 3000 m silver. He transferred to represent

following this and was very successful in Asian competitions, winning at the

2005 Asian Athletics Championships The 2005 Asian Athletics Championships were the 16th edition of the international athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held in Incheon, South Korea between 1–4 September 2005. Results Men * The original bronze medalist, An ...

and the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. He represented

Qatar at the Olympics Qatar has competed in 10 Summer Olympic Games. They have never competed in the Winter Olympic Games. Their first ever Olympic gold medal was won by Fares El-Bakh in weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics, followed by a gold medal for Mutaz Essa ...

for the first time with an appearance at the

2008 Beijing Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

– he finished eighth in the 5000 m. He improved at the next major competition, taking the bronze medal at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

. A streak of wins at Asian championships followed: he set a new Games record in the 3000 m at the

2009 Asian Indoor Games The 2009 Asian Indoor Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Trong nhà châu Á 2009), officially the 3rd Asian Indoor Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Trong nhà châu Á lần thứ 3) and also known as Vietnam 2009, were a pancontinential indoo ...

, won the 5000 m title at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men's results Track Field Women's results Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * ...

for a second time and won his first indoor title soon after at the

2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships The 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, also known as the IV Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, was an international indoor athletics event took place in Tehran, Iran, between 24 and 26 February. This was the second edition to be hosted ...

. From the beginning of his career, he was coached by the Italian Renato Canova, under the management of Gianni Demadonna. He is from

Kaptama Kaptama is a settlement in Kenya's Bungoma County Bungoma County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. Its capital is Bungoma town. It has a population of 1,670,570 of which 812,146 are males 858,389 females as per the 2019 ...

Mount Elgon District Mount Elgon District (Mt. Elgon District) was an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsokwony. In 2010, it was merged into Bungoma County. Geography and demographics The district was located on southea ...

. Prominent runner

Edith Masai Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and va ...

is from the same area.The Standard, October 14, 2008
Komon the mountain legion
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International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwalia, James 1984 births Living people People from Mount Elgon District Qatari male middle-distance runners Qatari male long-distance runners Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Qatari male cross country runners Kenyan male cross country runners Olympic athletes of Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Qatar Asian Games silver medalists for Qatar Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Qatar World Athletics Championships medalists Qatari people of Kenyan descent Naturalised citizens of Qatar