Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich (born 27 December 1990) is a Kenyan middle- and

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 competed earlier mainly in the

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 ...

and

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 ...

. She won the bronze medal in the

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 ...

at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

. Chepkirui was the 5000 m 2016 African champion, setting the championship record. As of September 2022, she placed fourth in the

10 km road race 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

on the world all-time list.

Career

In her youth, Sheila Chepkirui competed in age category competitions. She defeated

Yuriko Kobayashi Yuriko Kobayashi ( ja, 小林祐梨子; born 12 December 1988) is a Japanese professional middle- and long-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres. She represented Japan at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She started out ...

over 1500 m at the

2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali. The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially won by Sudan's Abdulagadir Idriss in a time ...

to claim her first international gold medal. Her finishing time of in a 4:12.29 minutes was a championship record. She returned to defend her title two years later, but ended up as bronze medallist at the 2007 event. She failed to improve at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted t ...

and did not get past the heats. She dropped out of the sport after that year. Chepkirui joined up with Kenya Defence Forces and began competing at their track competitions again around 2012. She returned to top level competition in late 2015. Good performances at national

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 coun ...

meets culminated in her finishing third 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 ...

. She was chosen for the

2016 African Cross Country Championships The 2016 African Cross Country Championships was the fourth edition of the international cross country running competition for African athletes organised by the Confederation of African Athletics. It was held on 12 March at the Yaounde Golf Club in ...

and in her senior debut she took the silver medal as part of a Kenyan podium sweep with

Alice Aprot Alice Aprot Nawowuna (born 2 January 1994) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes mainly in track running and cross country running competitions. She is the sister of former world champion Joseph Ebuya.Mills, Steven (2014-11-23)Cherono fin ...

and

Beatrice Mutai Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated c ...

. Later that year she won the 5000 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 ...

, and won her first senior title competing in the event at 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 ...

, setting a

championship record The sports under the umbrella of athletics, particularly track and field, use a variety of statistics. In order to report that information efficiently, numerous abbreviations have grown to be common in the sport. Starting in 1948 by Bert Nelson a ...

of 15:05.45 minutes.Sheila Chepkirui

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 2016-07-02. In September 2022, she came close to the women-only

10 kilometres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

world record at the Brașov Running Festival in Brașov, Romania. With her time of 30:07 Chepkirui, who set her 29:46 personal best in a mixed race in

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 ...

in 2020, broke the Romanian all-comers's record by more than two minutes, and was only six seconds off the women-only world record.

International competitions

National titles

**5000 metres: 2016, 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chepkirui, Sheila Living people 1990 births Kenyan female middle-distance runners Kenyan female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 20th-century Kenyan women 21st-century Kenyan women