Ruth Chepng'etich

Ruth Chepng'etich
Chepng'etich at the 2021 Chicago Marathon
Personal information
Born (1994-08-08) 8 August 1994 (age 30)
Kericho, Rift Valley Province, Kenya
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
CountryKenya
SportAthletics
Event(s)Half marathon, Marathon, 10 km
Turned pro2016
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Kenya
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Doha Marathon
World Half Marathon Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Valencia Team
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal – first place 2021 Chicago Marathon
Gold medal – first place 2022 Chicago Marathon
Gold medal – first place 2024 Chicago Marathon
Silver medal – second place 2023 Chicago Marathon
Bronze medal – third place 2020 London Marathon

Ruth Chepng'etich (often spelled Ruth Chepngetich, born 8 August 1994)[1] is a Kenyan road runner who is the current women's world record holder (pending ratification) in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56 set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon.[2] Chepng'etich is the 2019 world champion in the marathon, and is a three time winner of the Chicago Marathon, having won in 2021, 2022 and 2024, where she set the world record.[3] She is the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon,[3] and also holds the sixth-fastest mark of all time for the half marathon, at 1 hour 4 minutes and 2 seconds.

Career

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2018

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Chepng'etich won the women's only road race at the 40th Istanbul Marathon, a World Athletics Label Road Race. She ran 2:18:35, with split times of 31:59 at 10 km, 48:15 at 15 km, 1:08:22 at the half marathon mark, and 1:37:42 at 30 km. Chepng'etich's performance was a course record, the best performance ever on Turkish soil, and, at the time, was the seventh fastest time in history. In running this time Chepng'etich became the 10th athlete in history to break the 2:19 barrier, and the 30th in history to break the 2:20 barrier.[4][5][6]

2019

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At the 20th Dubai Marathon, Chepng'etich set a new course record of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 8 seconds.[7]

On 28 September, she won the world title in the marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, clocking 2:32:43 after a midnight start due to sweltering, humid conditions. The silver medal went to Rose Chelimo of Bahrain with a time of 2:33:46, and bronze went to Namibia's 39-year-old Helalia Johannes, who clocked 2:34:15. Chepng'etich's time was the slowest world championship-winning time in history for the women's marathon. Due to the unfavorable conditions, only 40 out of 68 starters finished the race in Doha.[8]

2020–2021

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On 4 October 2020, she finished third in the London Marathon.[1]

On 4 April 2021, Chepng'etich set a half marathon world record of 1:04:02 at the Istanbul Half Marathon in Turkey, taking 29 seconds off the previous best set by Ababel Yeshaneh in 2020.[9][10] Chepng'etich's record has since been broken, and she is currently the sixth fastest woman in history at the distance.[11]

On 10 October 2021, she took her first victory at a World Marathon Major by winning the 2021 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:22:31.[1] She went out fast in a 67:34 first half, and concluded significantly slower with a 74:57 second half, but still won by nearly two minutes.[12]

2022

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On 13 March, Chepng'etich clocked the second fastest ever women's only marathon time to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon in Japan, a World Athletics Elite Platinum Label race. In a new course record, she ran a negative split 2:17:18 with a 69:03 first half and a 68:15 second half. At the time, this was the joint seventh-fastest time in history, which gave her an 87 second margin of victory. She won $250,000, the biggest official prize in professional running up to that point.[13][14]

On 9 October, Chepng'etich successfully defended her Chicago title at the 2022 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:14:18, a personal best by almost three minutes, then the second-fastest time in history, and just 14 seconds outside of compatriot Brigid Kosgei's then-world record of 2:14:04. Chepng'etich ran most of the race well under world record pace as she went out very fast with her first 10 miles clocked at 49:49. She ran the first half in 65:44 before running the second half much slower in 68:34. The win made her the first woman in history to break the 2:18 barrier on three separate occasions.[15][12]

Chepng'etich's split times in the 2022 Chicago Marathon

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Distance interval Time Split
5 km 15:11 15:11
10 km 30:40 15:29
15 km 46:19 15:39
20 km 62:10 15:51
Half 65:44 (3:34)
25 km 1:18:03 15:53
30 km 1:34:01 15:58
35 km 1:50:25 16:24
40 km 2:07:02 16:37
Marathon 2:14:18 (7:16)

2023–present: Marathon world record

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On 13 October 2024, at the Chicago Marathon, Chepng'etich set a new world record in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56, breaking Tigst Assefa's previous world record of 2:11:53 by almost two minutes.[16] In setting this record, she became the first woman to run faster than 2:11 and 2:10 in the marathon. Chepng'etich stated she dedicated her world record to compatriot and men's world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who died in February 2024.[3]

Achievements

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Personal bests

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Distance Performance Location Date Notes
5000 metres 15:26.70 Nairobi, Kenya 9 April 2022
10,000 metres 31:47.9h Nairobi, Kenya 26 April 2022
10 km 30:29 Manchester, United Kingdom 22 May 2022 (also 30:57 not legal)[clarification needed]
Half marathon 1:04:02 Istanbul, Turkey 4 April 2021 Mx NR, 6th of all time
Marathon 2:09:56 Chicago, United States 13 October 2024 Mx WR[16]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
10 kilometres
2018 Memorial Samuel Wanjiru 10 km Nyahururu, Kenya 2nd 10 km 33:09
Marathons representing  Kenya
2017 Istanbul Marathon Istanbul, Turkey 1st Marathon 2:22:36
2018 Paris Marathon Paris, France 2nd Marathon 2:22:59
Istanbul Marathon Istanbul, Turkey 1st Marathon 2:18:35 CR
2019 Dubai Marathon Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1st Marathon 2:17:08
World Championships Doha, Qatar 1st Marathon 2:32:43
2020 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 3rd Marathon 2:22:05
2021 Olympic Games Sapporo, Japan Marathon DNF
Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States 1st Marathon 2:22:31
2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon Nagoya, Japan 1st Marathon 2:17:18 CR
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States Marathon DNF
Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States 1st Marathon 2:14:18
2023 Nagoya Women's Marathon Nagoya, Japan 1st Marathon 2:18:08
2024 Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States 1st Marathon 2:09:57 WR
Half marathons representing Nike
2016 Rabat Half Marathon Rabat, Morocco 4th Half Marathon 1:11:33
Nairobi Half Marathon Nairobi, Kenya 2nd Half Marathon 1:14:13
2017 Adana Half Marathon Adana, Turkey 1st Half Marathon 1:09:06
Paris Half Marathon Paris, France 1st Half Marathon 1:08:08
Milano Half Marathon Milano, Italy 1st Half Marathon 1:07:42
Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey 1st Half Marathon 1:06:19
Bogotá Half Marathon Bogotá, Colombia 3rd Half Marathon 1:13:57
Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Lisbon, Portugal 4th Half Marathon 1:10:33
2018 World Half Marathon Championships Valencia, Spain 13th Half Marathon 1:09:12
Copenhagen Half Marathon Copenhagen, Denmark 5th Half Marathon 1:07:02
2019 Bahrain Night Half Marathon Manama, Bahrain 2nd Half Marathon 1:06:09
Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey 1st Half Marathon 1:05:30 CR
Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Gifu, Japan 1st Half Marathon 1:06:06
Bogotá Half Marathon Bogotá, Colombia 1st Half Marathon 1:10:39
2020 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon New Delhi, India 2nd Half marathon 1:05:06
2021 Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey 1st Half marathon 1:04:02 WR

National championships

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ruth CHEPNGETICH – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ "World Records". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Ruth Chepngetich does something no other woman has done before in 2024 Chicago Marathon with likely world record finish". NBC Chicago. 13 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  4. ^ "2018 Istanbul Marathon". Podisti – Roberto Annoscia. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Ruth Chepngetich Smashes Istanbul Marathon Record with 2:18:35". Watch Athletics. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Ruth Chepngetich's amazing run at the 2018 Vodafone Istanbul Marathon". Run Blog Run. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Ruth Chepngetich shatters Dubai Marathon course record". Daily Nation. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Leichtathletik-WM: Chepngetich gewinnt langsamsten WM-Marathon – 28 Läuferinnen müssen aufgeben". Spiegel Online. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  9. ^ "İstanbul Yarı Maratonu'nda dünya rekoru!". NTV Spor (in Turkish). 4 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. ^ Snider-McGrath, Ben (4 April 2021). "Ruth Chepngetich runs 1:04:02, breaks half-marathon world record in Istanbul". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Half Marathon – women – senior – all". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Ruth Chepngetich Runs 2:14:18 to Win 2022 Chicago Marathon after Crazy 65:44 First Half". LetsRun.com. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  13. ^ Dickinson, Marley (1 October 2021). "Nagoya Women's Marathon now offers the most prize money of any race". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  14. ^ Whittington, Jess (13 March 2022). "Chepngetich runs 2:17:18 to win Nagoya Women's Marathon". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  15. ^ Henderson, Jason (9 October 2022). "Chepngetich goes No.2 all-time in Chicago Marathon". AW. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ a b Patterson, Hunter (13 October 2024). "Ruth Chepngetich shatters women's world record at Chicago Marathon". The New York Times.
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Records
Preceded by Women's Half marathon World record holder
4 April 2021 – 24 October 2021
Succeeded by