Stephen Kiprotich ("KIP-roh-tich", born 27 February 1989) is a Ugandan

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 in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. He is an Olympic

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 ...

champion, having won the gold medal at 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 ...

. Kiprotich also won a gold at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

. He is the second person, after Gezahegne Abera, to follow an Olympic marathon title with a world championship gold medal for the same event. Kiprotich became 2012 Olympic champion with a winning time of 2:08:01 in hot, sunny, and humid conditions. This was the first Olympic medal for Uganda since 1996, the first Olympic gold medal for the country since 1972, and the country's first ever medal in the marathon. He won the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

IAAF Championship marathon on 17 August 2013.

Biography

Kiprotich is the youngest of seven children of subsistence farmers from

Kapchorwa District Kapchorwa District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Kapchorwa is the district's main municipal, administrative, and commercial center, and is the site of the district headquarters. It is also the home district of Step ...

, near the Uganda-Kenya border. As a child, he missed three years of elementary school due to an undiagnosed illness. From 2004 to 2006, he quit athletics to concentrate on school. Then, at the age of 17, he quit school and moved to the

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

region of Kenya, in the

Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear d ...

, to train for the marathon with

Eliud Kipchoge Eliud Kipchoge ( ; born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized at the 5000 metre distance. Widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 O ...

. He was assisted by A Running Start, a non-profit foundation based in New York. Kiprotich ran a personal best in the marathon of 2:07:20 in 2011 at the

Enschede Marathon The Enschede Marathon is an annual marathon race held in the city of Enschede, Netherlands. The race is the distance of a typical marathon (42 km, 195 metres). It has been held annually since 1991, after being bi-annual for the previous 44 years. ...

in the Netherlands, which set a new course record for the Enschede Marathon and a new Ugandan record. He finished third in the 2012

Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. ...

with a time of 2:07:50. Kiprotich was inspired in part by

John Akii-Bua John Akii-Bua (3 December 1949 – 20 June 1997) was a Ugandan hurdler and the first Olympic champion from his country Uganda and Africa at large. In 1986, he was a recipient of the Silver Olympic Order. Biography Akii-Bua was raised in a ...

, the only previous Ugandan Olympic gold medallist, who won the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

at the 1972 Summer Olympics in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, Germany setting a new world record in the process. He then went on to win the London 2012 Olympic Marathon, ahead of Kenyan runners

Abel Kirui Abel Kirui (born 6 April 1982) is a long-distance runner from Kenya who competes in marathons. He had back-to-back wins in the World Championship marathon in 2009 and 2011. Kirui won in 2009 with a time of 2:06:54, then defended his title with a ...

and

Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (born 15 March 1982) is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer ...

who finished second and third respectively. In 2012, Kiprotich won the Nile Special-Uspa Sports Personality of the Year award, the Ugandan sports award. In 2013, he won the IAAF Moscow 2013 Marathon in 2:09:51 to grab the gold medal. The following year, Kiprotich took part and completed the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

in 2:13:25.

was the winner in 2:10.59. In February 2015, he ran a new personal best in the marathon of 2:06:33 in finishing second at the

.personal best
IAAF In 2015, Kiprotich appeared in Jayant Maru's film SIPI the movie, a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

n produced film. In 2016, Stephen Kiprotich ran in his second Olympic marathon at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games; Kiprotich, the defending champion finished 14th in 2:13:32 in a race won by Kenya's

. In 2017, he represented Uganda at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in

Kampala, Uganda Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. Kiprotich finished 17th in a race won by Kenya's

Geoffrey Kamworor Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (born 22 November 1992) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in cross country, marathon, and half marathon races. He was the 2011 World Junior Cross Country Champion. Kamworor won the IAAF World ...

. He went on to finish second in both the

Hamburg Marathon The Hamburg Marathon (german: Hamburg-Marathon) is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athlet ...

and

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

, clocking 2:07:31 and 2:07:10 respectively. The next year, he competed in the

and

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race. The race has quickly become an elite level marathon and is one of just five World A ...

, finishing off of the podium in fifth and seventh respectively. In 2019, Kiprotich was third in the

in 2:08:31 and represented Uganda in the men's marathon at the

2019 World Championships in Athletics The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held bet ...

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the cou ...

. Stephen finished 18th in 2:15:04 in a race won by Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa. Kiprotich's next marathon was in April 2021 when he finished fifth at the NN Mission Marathon in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

, Netherlands in a time of 2:09:04. He was the first Ugandan to finish, beating

Geoffrey Kusuro Geofrey Kusuro (born 12 February 1989) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the men's 5000 m, not reaching the final. At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of ...

and Ugandan national record holder Felix Chemonges. Stephen Kiprotich was selected for the Ugandan team in the men's marathon at the

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. He is expected to compete in August 2021 alongside teammates, Fred Musobo and Felix Chemonges. Kiprotich is a member of the

NN Running Team NN Running Team is a professional running team based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2017 by Jos Hermens, the director of Global Sports Communication. The team's title sponsor is the Dutch insurance company NN Group. The running team inclu ...

and trains in

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 ...

, Uganda.

References

External links

* *
Official Facebook Fanpage

www.kiprotich.co.ug
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiprotich, Stephen 1989 births Living people People from Kapchorwa District Ugandan male long-distance runners Ugandan male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Uganda Olympic gold medalists for Uganda Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners Olympic male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 20th-century Ugandan people 21st-century Ugandan people