Ruth Jebet (born 17 November 1996) is a Kenyan-born

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 ...

and

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

specialist who competes internationally for

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. She was the

world record holder In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and was the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

, both achieved before turning 20. In 2018 she was suspended for testing positive for EPO.

Career

Jebet took the opportunity to run for Bahrain at the age of sixteen, transferring her eligibility in February 2013. In April she won the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and 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 ...

at the Kenyan high school championships. The teenager excelled in her debut outing for Bahrain, coming second in the

to Moroccan Olympian

Salima El Ouali Alami Salima Elouali Alami (born 29 December 1983) is a Morocco, Moroccan athlete. She was born in Karia Ba Mohamed. She competed in the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase, 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2012 ...

at the 2013 Arab Athletics Championships. Her time of 9:52.47 minutes was a Bahraini national record for the event. She improved upon her own mark that July at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships, where she seized the lead from the start and never relinquished her position. She defeated pre-race favourite and Asian Games champion Sudha Singh by more than fifteen seconds and her time of 9:40.84 minutes was a new championship record. This time ranked her as the top Asia steeplechase runner that year. In 2014, still only 17, she won the World Junior Championship ahead of two other Kenyan girls. That same month at the Weltklasse Zurich with older competition, she set the Asian continental record at 9:20.55, missing the World junior record by only 0.13 of a second (ranking her #31 of all time). In the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, she became the first Bahraini athlete to win an Olympic gold medal by winning the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:59.75 making her the second fastest within the event of all time. She finished ahead of Kenya's Hyvin Jepkemoi, who ran 9:07.12 to take silver, and American

Emma Coburn Emma Jane Coburn (born October 19, 1990) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000-meters steeplechase. She holds the distinction of being a world champion, world silver medalist, Olympic bronze medalist, three-time Olym ...

, who ran 9:07.63 to capture the bronze. On 27 August 2016, at the Paris stage of the 2016 IAAF Diamond League, Jebet smashed the existing 3000-metres steeplechase

world record 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 ...

running at 8:52.78, more than six seconds faster than the old record. In March 2018, Jebet became embroiled in a drug-testing scandal when she tested positive for r-EPO (recombinant erythropoietin), a performance-enhancing drug that increases stamina by producing more red blood cells. Her agent at the time, Marc Corstjens, denied any knowledge. Jebet told the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) she had not taken it intentionally, but after a two-year investigation into the matter a disciplinary tribunal in March 2020 ruled against her, handing down a four-year suspension, which began on 18 February 2018, and stripped Jebet of all her results from 1 December 2017 to 4 February 2018. The ruling didn't affect her gold medal from the 2016 Olympics because she won that before testing positive, nor did it affect her 2016 world record performance. Jebet has been a controversial figure in Kenya because she switched allegiances to run for Bahrain, offending many Kenyans who have accused her of disloyalty. Running for Bahrain she benefits financially far better than if she ran for Kenya. It was reported she received $500,000 USD, (the equivalent to 52 million Kenyan shillings) from the Bahrain government for winning her Olympic gold medal. As point of comparison, two-time

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

gold medalist and world record holder

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from t ...

, running for Kenya, was paid about 1 million Kenyan shillings, about $10,000 USD.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jebet, Ruth Living people 1996 births Kenyan female long-distance runners Bahraini female long-distance runners Kenyan female steeplechase runners Kenyan emigrants to Bahrain Naturalized citizens of Bahrain Bahraini female steeplechase runners Asian Games gold medalists for Bahrain Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Bahrain Foreign-born athletes of Bahrain Olympic gold medalists for Bahrain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics record holders Olympic female steeplechase runners Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Diamond League winners Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in athletics