Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan

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 ...

who specialises in track and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open ...

. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the

5000 m 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 stand ...

and bronze medal at the 10000 m at the 2012 Olympics, silver medal at the 10000 m and gold medal at the

at the 2016 Olympics, setting the new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (lis ...

event. Cheruiyot won a

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, e ...

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 sta ...

at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federa ...

and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition, repeating this achievement at the 2011 World Championships, where she also won the 10000 m. After taking a silver 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 ...

, she won a number of outdoor titles that year, becoming African champion,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

champion and

IAAF Continental Cup The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as ...

champion, as well as winning the 2010 IAAF Diamond League title. She holds the Kenyan record and Commonwealth record for the 10,000 m with her best time of 29:32.53, which was set at the

Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

in 2016.

Career

Cheruiyot is trained by Ricky Simms. She was born near Keiyo in the

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces ...

, coming from the same village as another female runner Alice Timbilili. Her breakthrough year came in 1999: at the age of fifteen she took the junior

at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships behind Werknesh Kidane. 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 Offi ...

she won the bronze medal in 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 ...

. She earned a senior call-up for the 1999 All-Africa Games, where she managed a bronze medal in the

. She became the junior champion at the

2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 18/19, 2000. The races were held at the Sporting Complex in Vilamoura, Portugal. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the Herald, and for the IAAF ...

. She gained selection for the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and reached the 5000 m final after setting personal bests in the qualifying rounds. She was much slower in the final and was the last runner to finish. Vivian Cheruiyot won the

at the 5000 m final of the 2007 World Championships at

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

in 14:58.50, behind Meseret Defar (14:57.91). In early 2009 she broke the Kenyan

indoor record (8:30.53) in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and won the

World's Best 10K The World's Best 10K (WB10K) is a road race of 10 kilometers celebrated in San Juan, Puerto Rico every year. It is certified by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races (AIMS) and by the International Amateur Athletic Federat ...

race in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. In May she won the Great Manchester Run 10K race. Cheruiyot won the women's 5000 m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin with a time of 14 minutes 58.33 seconds, while countrywoman Sylvia Kibet took the silver. She closed the track season with a 3000 m silver and a 5000 m bronze medal at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final. She won the 2009 New Year's Eve

San Silvestre Vallecana The San Silvestre Vallecana is an annual 10 km road race held on 31 December in Madrid, Spain since 1964. It has two editions: a fun run for amateur athletes and an elite race for professional athletes. In 2012, the race achieved its histo ...

race. She retained her World's Best 10K title in 2010. An appearance at the

resulted in a silver medal in the 3000 m behind Meseret Defar. She headed the Kenyan 5000 m challenge at the

2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010. Background The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time. Previously two major athletics events have been held i ...

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 prope ...

and beat Defar on this occasion to take the African title. After this, her main focus of the year was the 2010 IAAF Diamond League. She took victories in the 5000 m at the Meeting Areva and

Memorial van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond ...

and was elected the inaugural Diamond League Trophy winner for the event on overall points. She defeated

Sentayehu Ejigu Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat (born 21 June 1985 in Debre Markos, Amhara Region)2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 20 ...

to take the 5000 m gold medal for Africa. Another gold medal in the event came at the

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 ...

in Delhi, where she headed a Kenyan podium sweep with Sylvia Kibet and Ines Chenonge. She returned to Kenya to train and took an 8 km win at the Tuskys Cross Country meeting. She ended the year on a high note with 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 ...

5K race on New Year's Eve. Cheruiyot began preparing for the World Cross Country Championships in January 2011 and came third at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country before overhauling

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 ...

to win the Cross de Itálica in Seville. A second-place finish at the

Kenyan Cross Country Championships The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics ...

guaranteed her a place in the Kenyan squad and, in contrast to her successes on the track, she was looking to win her first cross country medal on the world stage. Her rival Masai led the initial charge at the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Unite ...

, but Cheruiyot broke away on the final lap to secure the gold medal and lead Kenya to the women's team title. She started 2012 with a win at the

and improved her best on the roads to 30:47 minutes. She opened the 2012 Diamond League circuit with narrow wins ahead of Meseret Defar, first in the 3000 m in Doha then over 5000 m in Rome. She guaranteed her place at the Olympics by winning the 10,000 m trial in Nairobi in June. At the Olympics, she won a silver medal in the 5000 metres and a bronze medal at the 10000 metres. In 2018, she won the 2018 London Marathon with a time of 2:18:31. She finished second in the

2018 New York City Marathon The 2018 New York City Marathon was a marathon race held in New York City, United States, which took place on November 4, 2018. It was the 48th edition of the New York City Marathon, which is organised by New York Road Runners. The men's race w ...

, finishing in 2:26:02 far behind winner

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 pla ...

in 2:22:48, and 20 seconds ahead of Shalane Flanagan who finished in 2:26:22.

Personal bests

Vivian Cheruiyot Cross de la Constitucion 2006

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievements

*''Note: XC = Cross Country'' *

Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual women from the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laure ...

: 2012

Marathon competition record

References

External links

* * *
Read Vivian Cheruiyot's Rising Star Profile on spikesmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheruiyot, Vivian 1983 births Living people People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan female long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Kenya Olympic gold medalists for Kenya Olympic silver medalists for Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners Laureus World Sports Awards winners Kalenjin people Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games bronze medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Kenyan female cross country runners London Marathon female winners Olympic female long-distance runners Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 All-Africa Games Diamond League winners IAAF Continental Cup winners World Athletics Championships winners