Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (born 22 December 1983 in

Keiyo District Keiyo District (also known as ''Elgeyo district'' or Elgeiyo) is a defunct Districts of Kenya, administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The district was formed in 1994, when the Elgeyo-Marakwet District was split into tw ...

) is a runner from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

who specialises in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. Kibiwot won her first international medal as a junior runner 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 IA ...

, where she took the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

for Kenya. Consecutive world junior cross country titles followed at the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

editions of the event, and she also claimed the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

over 1500 m at the

2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Kingston, Jamaica from July 16 to July 21, 2002. Men's results Women's results Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, ...

. After becoming a senior runner, she struggled to match her junior success. She was outside of the top twenty in the senior short race at the

2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 29/30, 2003. The races were held at the L'Institut Équestre National d'Avenches, L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland. Reports of the event were ...

, and again at the 2005 race. She was seventh on the track at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

, but appeared to make her breakthrough over 1500 m 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 feder ...

with a fifth-place finish in a personal best time of 4:02.10 minutes in the final. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the

2007 IAAF World Athletics Final The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007. Results Men Women See also * 2007 in athletics (track and field) References ;Results2007 IAAF Wo ...

, coming fourth. She competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, but failed to build upon her progress on the global stage and did not advance beyond the heats. At the 2009 World Championships she did not get past the semi-finals stage. Kibiwoot ran on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit, but never made the top three in the event. She came seventh in the 1500 m at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in Delhi. Kibiwot won her first senior continental medal at the 2011 African Cross Country Championships, taking 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, ...

behind Mercy Cherono and helping Kenya to the team title. She was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1500 m 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 the ...

. She changed her focus to longer distances as a result and performed better on the world stage, taking sixth at the 2012 Olympic 5000 m final and fourth at the 2013 World Championships 5000 m final. At the 2013 World Cross Country Championships she helped Kenya to the team title with her seventh-place finish. An outing over four miles on the roads in October 2013 saw her run the world best for the distance, as she completed the 4 mijl van Groningen race in 19:20 minutes.Mulkeen, Jon (2013-10-13)
Kibiwot sets 4 Mile World best in Groningen as Alamirew beats Gebrselassie
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-10-15.

Achievements

Personal bests

- 4:02.10 min (2007) *

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 3000 m sho ...

- 8:40.14 min (2003) *

Two miles The 2 mile (3,520 yards, 10,560 feet, or exactly 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets due its historical chronology in the United States and United Ki ...

- 9:12.59 (2014) *

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 ...

- 14:33.48 min (2013)

References

External links

*
Global Sports Communication profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibiwot, Viola 1983 births Living people Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan female middle-distance runners Kenyan female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Kenyan female cross country runners Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya