Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet (born 28 March, 1984) is a Kenyan professional

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 ...

. She was the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

list 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 ...

at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in both 2009 and 2011. She also won medals over the distance at the

2006 African Championships in Athletics The 15th African Championships in Athletics were held in Mauritius between August 9 and August 13, 2006. The event was staged at Stade Germain Comarmond in Bambous, Rivière Noire District. This was the second time when the African Championships ...

, the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nige ...

and

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

. She has narrowly missed out on medals at major championships on a number of occasions, having finished fourth at the 2007 World Championships,

2008 Beijing Olympics 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 Nat ...

and twice over

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 ...

at the

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

(in 2008 and 2010).

Career

Kibet is from

Kapchorwa Kapchorwa is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, commercial, and administrative center of Kapchorwa District. Initially the present day Kapchorwa was known as the Sebei Region. Location The town of Kapchorwa is loca ...

Nandi District Nandi County is a Counties of Kenya, county in Kenya in the North Rift, occupying an area of 2,884.4 square kilometres. Its capital, Kapsabet, is the largest town in the county while other towns include Mosoriot, Tinderet Constituency, Tinderet ...

. Her older sister

Hilda Kibet Hilda Kibet (born 27 March 1981 in Keiyo District) is a Dutch runner of Kenyan birth. She is the sister of Sylvia Kibet and the niece of Lornah Kiplagat. She obtained Dutch nationality in October 2007. Kibet's longtime partner is Dutch marathon ...

is also a runner, who now represents the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, as does

Lornah Kiplagat Lornah Kiplagat (born 1 May 1974) is a Dutch professional long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherland ...

, their cousin. After winning the 1500 m silver medal at the

1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the first edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland from July 16 to July 18, 1999. Results Boys Girls Medal table External links Offic ...

, she took a break from athletics and married Erastus Limo, a former middle-distance runner. After giving birth to a daughter, she had her come-back in 2004. Living in

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya. Iten serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. The town is located along the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road heading to Kapsowar. ...

, a small town 30 km far from Eldoret, she met the Italian coach Renato Canova, and started training with him. She started to reach the international level in 2005, showing improving performances in her preferred event – the

.James Wokabi and Mutwiri Mutuota (6 March 2011)
Focus on Athletes – Sylvia Jebiwott KIBET

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved 29 March 2011. She won the bronze medal in

at the 2006 African Championships and finished fifth in

at the 2006 World Athletics Final. In 2007, she won the bronze medal at the

and finished fourth at the 2007 World Championships, and at the

World Athletics Final The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...

she finished fifth in 3000 m and second in 5000 m. In 2008, she set a national indoor record over 1500 m of 4:07.46 minutes at the BW-Bank Meeting in February. She finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in a new Kenyan indoor record of 8:41.82 minutes. She won her first major outdoor 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 ...

, taking the

in the

behind

Vivian Cheruiyot Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and cross country running. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the 5 ...

. Kibet just missed out on a medal in the 3000 m at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

, pipped to the bronze by

Sentayehu Ejigu Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat (born 21 June 1985 in Debre Markos, Amhara Region)Women's 5K Challenge A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

in London but failed to retain her title from 2009, finishing second to

Linet Masai Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. ...

. She became the first women's winner of a newly inaugurated 7 km race at the

Memorial Peppe Greco The Memorial Peppe Greco is an annual men's 10 kilometres road race which takes place in Scicli, Italy. Also known as the Scicli 10km, the race was created in 1990 by Giovanni Voi. The course consists of ten one-kilometre laps on the streets of th ...

, beating

Ejegayehu Dibaba Ejegayehu Dibaba Keneni ( om, Ijigaayoo Dibaabaa; Amharic: እጅጋዬሁ ዲባባ); born 21 March 1982, in Bekoji) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ejegayehu ear ...

to the line. She won the 5000 m silver behind Cheruiyot at the

. In March 2011 she won at the Trofeo Alà dei Sardi cross country race She reached the podium on the

2011 Diamond League The 2011 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2011 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the second edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 6 May in Doha, Q ...

circuit once that season, taking third at the

DN Galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...

over 5000 m. She gained selection to represent Kenya for a second consecutive time over the distance at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. Vivian Cheruiyot defended her title, but Kibet beat

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Ol ...

in a sprint finish for the silver medal. At the 2012

Campaccio The Campaccio is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in early January in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Organised by the ''Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese'' (Sangiorgese Sports Association), the event attracts participation fr ...

cross country she was runner-up behind her younger compatriot

Mercy Cherono Mercy Cherono Koech (born 7 May 1991) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres (2008, ...

. Kibet came close to a medal over 3000 m at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of four ...

with a fourth-place finish. She was fourth at the Kenyan 5000 m trials and wasn't selected for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She performed well on the 2012 Diamond League Circuit, having top three finishes in Doha, Monaco and Lausanne and finishing third overall in the rankings. In her 10-mile debut in September, she won the

Dam tot Damloop Dam tot Damloop (''Dam to Dam Run'' in English) is an annual road running competition held in North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a Silver Label 10-mile race from Amsterdam to Zaandam. The event was first held as a fun run event in 1985 and ...

in a time of 51:42 minutes. A win at the

BOClassic The BOclassic is an annual road running competition over the distance of 10 kilometres for men and 5 kilometres for women. It is held on New Year's Eve in Bolzano, Italy. The competition has only elite races, competed between a limited number of ...

brought a close to her year.

Achievements

Personal bests

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

– 4:08.57 min (2009), indoor – 4:05.33 min (2010) *

– 8:40.09 min (2006), indoor – 8:41.24 min (2010) *

– 14:31.91 min (2010) *

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 ...

– 30:47.20 min (2009) *

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 ...

– 1:09:51 hrs (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kibet, Sylvia 1984 births Living people Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games People from Nandi County World Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics African Games bronze medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Kenyan female cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games