Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning the silver medal in the 5,000 metres and bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics as well as gold in the 5,000 m and silver in the 10,000 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, setting a new Olympic record in the former. Cheruiyot won the silver medal in the 5,000 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition, repeating this achievement in 2011, when she also won the 10,000 m. She added gold for the latter event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. After taking a silver in the 3,000 metres at the 2010 World Indoor Championships, Cheruiyot won a number of outdoor 5,000 m titles that year, becoming Commonwealth Games, African and Continental Cup champion, as well as winning the Diamond League title.

She is a three-time Diamond League champion, having also won the 2011 and 2012 editions. She is the Kenyan record holder for the 2,000 m and 10,000 m. In 2012, Cheruiyot was voted Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. She is nicknamed "pocket rocket".

Career Vivian Cheruiyot is trained by Ricky Simms.The Standard, 28 January 2007: She was born near Keiyo in the Rift Valley Province, coming from the same village as another female runner Alice Timbilili.Daily Nation, 11 August 1999: No changes expected in squad

Her breakthrough year came in 1999: at the age of fifteen she took the junior silver medal at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships behind Werknesh Kidane. At the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics she won the bronze medal in the 3000 metres. Cheruiyot earned a senior call-up for the 1999 All-Africa Games, where she managed a bronze medal in the 5000 metres. She became the junior champion at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Cheruiyot gained selection for the 2000 Olympic Games 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.Athletics at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games: Women's 5,000 metres. Sports-Reference. Retrieved 27 November 2010.

Cheruiyot won the silver medal at the 5000 m final of the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan with a time of 14:58.50, behind Meseret Defar in 14:57.91.

In early 2009 she broke the Kenyan indoor 3000 m record with a time of 8:30.53 in Birmingham, and won the World's Best 10K race in Puerto Rico. 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 at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final. She won the 2009 New Year's Eve San Silvestre Vallecana race.

Cheruiyot retained her World's Best 10K title in 2010. An appearance at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships resulted in a silver medal in the 3000 m behind Meseret Defar. Cheruiyot then headed the Kenyan 5000 m challenge at the African Championships in Athletics in Nairobi and beat Defar on this occasion to take the African title. After this, her main focus of the year was the Diamond League. She took victories in the 5000 m at the Meeting Areva and Memorial van Damme and was elected the inaugural Diamond League Trophy winner for the event on overall points.Tyson Gay wraps up Diamond League title in Brussels. BBC Sport (27 August 2010). Retrieved 27 November 2010. She defeated Sentayehu Ejigu at the Continental Cup to take the 5000 m gold medal for Africa.Ramsak, Bob (5 September 2010). EVENT Report – Women's 5000 Metres . IAAF. Retrieved 27 November 2010. Another gold medal in the event came at the Commonwealth Games held that year in Delhi, where she headed a Kenyan podium sweep with Sylvia Kibet and Ines Chenonge. Cheruiyot 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 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 to win the Cross de Itálica in Seville. A second-place finish at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships 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 World Cross Country Championships, 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 World's Best 10K and improved her best on the roads to 30:47 minutes. She opened the Diamond League circuit with narrow wins ahead of Meseret Defar, first in the 3000 m in Doha and then over 5000 m in Rome. Cheruiyot guaranteed her place at the Olympics by winning the 10,000 m trial in Nairobi in June. At the Olympics, she won the silver medal in the 5000 metres and a bronze at the 10,000 metres.

In 2018, she won the 2018 London Marathon with a time of 2:18:31.

She took second place in the 2018 New York City Marathon, finishing in 2:26:02 far behind winner Mary Keitany in 2:22:48, and 20 seconds ahead of Shalane Flanagan who ran 2:26:22.

Achievements

All information taken from World Athletics profile.

Personal bests TypeEventTime (m:s)VenueDateNotesTrack1500 metres4:06.6hNairobi, Kenya18 May 20122000 metres5:31.52Eugene, United States7 June 2009 3000 metres8:28.66Stuttgart, Germany23 September 20073000 metres indoor8:30.53Birmingham, United Kingdom21 February 2009Two miles indoor9:12.35Birmingham, United Kingdom20 February 20105000 metres14:20.87Stockholm, Sweden29 July 201110,000 metres29:32.53Rio de Janeiro, Brazil12 August 2016 Road5 kilometres15:11London, United Kingdom6 September 200910 kilometres30:47San Juan, Puerto Rico26 February 201210 miles51:17Portsmouth, United Kingdom25 October 2015Half marathon1:06:34Lisbon, Portugal17 March 2019Marathon2:18:31London, United Kingdom22 April 2018

International competitions 1998World Cross Country ChampionshipsMarrakesh, Morocco5thJunior race (6 km)19:471999World Cross Country Championships Belfast, United Kingdom2ndJunior race (6.124 km)21:37All-Africa Games Johannesburg, South Africa3rd5000 m15:42.79World Youth Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland3rd3000 m9:04.422000World Cross Country Championships Vilamoura, Portugal1stJunior race (6.29 km)20:342001World Cross Country Championships Ostend, Belgium4thJunior race (5.9 km)20:22African Junior Championships Réduit, Mauritius1st5000 m16:19.542002World Cross Country Championships Dublin, Ireland3rdJunior race (5.962 km)20:22World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica3rd5000 m15:56.042004World Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium8thShort race (4 km)13:232006World Cross Country Championships Fukuoka, Japan8thShort race (4 km)13:10World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany3rd3000 m8:38.865th5000 m16:07.952007World Cross Country Championships Mombasa, Kenya8thLong race (8 km)28:10World Championships Osaka, Japan2nd5000 m14:58.50 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany2nd3000 m8:28.66 1st5000 m14:56.942008Olympic Games Beijing, China4th5000 m15:46.32 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany2nd3000 m8:44.64 2nd5000 m14:54.602009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany1st5000 m14:57.97 World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece2nd3000 m8:30.613rd5000 m15:26.212010World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar2nd3000 m8:51.85African ChampionshipsNairobi, Kenya1st5000 m 16:18.73Continental CupSplit, Croatia1st5000 m16:05.74Commonwealth GamesNew Delhi, India1st5000 m15:55.122011World Cross Country ChampionshipsPunta Umbría, Spain1stSenior race (8 km)24:58World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea1st5000 m14:55.361st10,000 m30:48.982012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom2nd5000 m15:04.733rd10,000 m30:30.442015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China1st10,000 m31:41.312016Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil1st5000 m14:26.17 OR2nd10,000 m29:32.53

Marathon competition record 2003Vitoria MarathonVitoria-Gasteiz, Spain1st2:41:0913 April2017London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom4th2:23:5023 AprilFrankfurt MarathonFrankfurt, Germany1st2:23:3529 October2018London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom1st2:18:3122 AprilNew York MarathonNew York, United States2nd2:26:024 November2019London MarathonLondon, United Kingdom2nd2:20:1428 AprilValencia MarathonValencia, Spain4th2:18:521 December

Circuit wins and titles Golden League 2007: Berlin ISTAF 2008: Brussels Memorial Van Damme Diamond League Overall 5000 metres winner: 2010, 2011, 2012 5000 metres wins, other events specified in parentheses 2010 (3): Lausanne Athletissima (3000 m, ), Paris Meeting Areva) (WL MR), Brussels Memorial Van Damme 2011 (4): Shanghai Golden Grand Prix (WL), Eugene Prefontaine Classic (MR), Stockholm DN Galan (WL ), Zürich Weltklasse (MR) 2012 (4): Doha Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix (3000 m, WL), Rome Golden Gala (WL), London Grand Prix, Brussels 2016 (1): Birmingham British Grand Prix

National titles Kenyan Athletics Championships 1500 metres: 2009, 2015 5000 metres: 1999, 2010 10,000 metres: 2011, 2012

Recognition 2012 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year

References

External links

Read Vivian Cheruiyot's Rising Star Profile on spikesmag.com