Joyciline Jepkosgei (born 8 December 1993) is a Kenyan female

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes over distances from

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

to the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. She is the former half marathon world record holder in contests with mixed-gender fields with her personal best of 64:51 minutes, and additionally the former world record holder in the 10 km with 29:43 minutes. She was a bronze medallist over 10,000 m at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organised ...

in 2016. Jepkosgei ran a world record for the half marathon of 1:04:52 at the Prague Half Marathon in April 2017, becoming the first woman ever to break 65 minutes. She also unofficially broke the IAAF-ratified records for 10 km, 15 km and 20 km along the way, breaking a total of four world records in a single event. She became the first Kenyan ever to break six world records in six months.

Career

Jepkosgei emerged as a professional level runner at the 2015

Nairobi Half Marathon The Nairobi Marathon is an annual road running competition over the marathon distance usually held in October in Nairobi, Kenya. First held in 2003, the competition expanded and now includes a half marathon race along with the main race. It was p ...

, where she finished fifth in 1:14:06 minutes.Joyciline Chepkosgei

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 1 April 2017. She knocked her best down to 1:09:09 minutes at the following year's First Lady's Half Marathon in the Kenyan capital, placing second to

Valentine Kipketer Valentine Jepkorir Kipketer (born 5 January 1993) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the half marathon and marathon distances. She has won marathons in Mumbai and Amsterdam and represented her country at the 2013 World Championshi ...

. She improved two seconds further in winning the

Karlovy Vary Half Marathon The Karlovy Vary Half Marathon is an annual half marathon race which takes place in mid May in Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of t ...

, which placed her in the top 35 runners that year. A member of the

Kenya Defence Forces The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) ( sw, Majeshi ya Ulinzi ya Kenya, stylized as "KENYA ARMED FORCES" capitalized on its coat of arms) are the armed forces of the Republic of Kenya. They are made up of the Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, and Kenya Air Forc ...

, she was twice runner-up at their track championships in 2016 in the

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 ...

and

. A third-place finish in the 10,000 m at the

Kenyan Athletics Championships The Kenyan Athletics Championships is an annual track and field meeting which serves as Kenya's national championships for the sport. Athletics Kenya, the country's governing body for athletics organises the event. The championships is usually hel ...

led to her first international selection for the

2016 African Championships in Athletics The 20th African Championships in Athletics was held in Durban, South Africa from 22 to 26 June 2016. It was the second time that Durban and South Africa hosted this competition. 720 athletes from 43 African national federations participated. Meda ...

. There she took the bronze medal in a personal best of 31:28.28 minutes. Jepkosgei ended her breakthrough year with a runner-up finish at the

Prague Grand Prix The Prague Grand Prix is an annual running event which takes place in September in Prague, Czech Republic. It is a 10-kilometre race organised in the attractive surroundings of Prague city centre during evening twilight. The race was introduced in ...

and a win at the

Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale The Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale is an annual half marathon which follows a course from Marseille to Cassis in France during the last weekend in October. It has the silver label of the IAAF Road Race Label Events and is thus among the ...

. She competed in her first top level half marathon at the start of 2017 and took nearly three minutes off her personal best, crossing the line in 66:08 minutes to take third at the

RAK Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record only a month later in ...

. This made her the seventh fastest runner ever at that point. The winner,

Peres Jepchirchir Peres Jepchirchir (born 27 September 1993) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes mainly in road running competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jepchirchir was the champion ...

, broke the world record and Jepkosgei ran the fastest ever time for her placing, as did runner-up

Mary Keitany Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She is the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she plac ...

. Both Jepchirchir and Keitany had won world titles for the half marathon distance, thus establishing Jepkosgei among the world's best. A month and a half later she returned to the distance and proved herself the fastest ever, winning the

Prague Half Marathon The Prague Half Marathon (known as the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic, first held in 1999. It ...

. During that race she broke four

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

en route, recording 30:05 at 10K, 45:37 at 15K and 61:25 at 20K. In September 2017, with the aid of a male pacer, she further improved her own 10K world record to 29:43, just ahead of

Fancy Chemutai Fancy Chemutai (born March 20, 1995) is a Kenyan long distance runner who specializes in the half marathon. She finished third in her debut at the Prague Half Marathon and won the Göteborgsvarvet in Gothenburg in 1:07:58. On October 22, 2017 in V ...

(30:06), and

Violah Jepchumba Violah Jepchumba (born 23 October 1990) is a Kenyan born long-distance runner from Bahrain who competes in road running events up to the half marathon distance. She is the current Asian Record holder in the half-marathon (established 01 April 2017 ...

(30:25), at the

, thus becoming the first woman ever to run the distance under 30 minutes. In November 2019, Jepkosgei won the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

in her official debut at the distance with a time of 2:22:38, the second fastest time on the course for women. In 2020, she competed in the women's half marathon at the

2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships The 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, originally scheduled for 29 March 2020 in Gdynia, Poland, was postponed until 17 October 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. On , the mass participation race was cancelled, while the elite ...

held in Gdynia, Poland. Jepkosgei won the

2021 London Marathon The 2021 London Marathon was the 41st running of the annual London Marathon on 3 October 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite even ...

after taking the lead into the race and becoming the seventh fastest female marathoner in history with 2:17:43. The next year, the 28-year-old came seventh at the

2022 Boston Marathon The 2022 Boston Marathon was a marathon race held in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2022. It was the 126th official running of the race, and 124th time it was run on course (excluding the virtual event of 2020, and the ekiden of 1918). The ...

in April in a time of 2:24:43. At the

2022 London Marathon The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's a ...

in October, Jepkosgei placed second behind only

Yalemzerf Yehualaw Yalemzerf Yehualaw Densa (born 3 August 1999) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the 2022 London Marathon. Yehualaw is the current world record holder in the 10 kilometres road race, sits second on the world all-time list at the hal ...

, clocking 2:18:07 and missing her personal best by 24 seconds.

Personal life

Jepkosgei was coached by her husband, Nicholas Koech, until 2019 and has a son, Brandon, born in 2011.

Personal bests

(outdoor track) – 15:19.1h (

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

2019) * 5 kilometres (road) - 14:32 (

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

2017) * 10,000 metres (track) – 31:28.28 (

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

2016) * 10 kilometres (road) – 29:43 (

2017) Former world record * 15 kilometres (road) – 45:37 (

2017) * 20 kilometres (road) – 1:01:25 (

2017)

World best A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

– 1:04:51 (

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

2017) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

– 2:17:43 (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

2021)

International competitions

Circuit wins

(half marathon): 2016 *

: 2016 *

: 2017 *

New York City Half Marathon The New York City Half Marathon (branded as the United Airlines NYC Half) is an annual half marathon road running race from Brooklyn's Prospect Park to Manhattan's Central Park via the Manhattan Bridge, held since 2006. It passes through o ...

: 2019

Notes

References

External links

*
All-Athletics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jepkosgei, Joyciline 1993 births Living people Kenyan female long-distance runners World Athletics record holders Kenyan female marathon runners New York City Marathon female winners London Marathon female winners