 Jepchirchir at the2022 Boston Marathon | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Kenyan |
| Born | (1993-09-27)27 September 1993 (age 32) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Long-distance running |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbests |
|
Medal record | |
Peres Jepchirchir (born 27 September 1993) is a Kenyan professionallong-distance runner who competes mainly inroad running competitions. She won the gold medal in the women'smarathon at the2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jepchirchir was the champion at the2016 and2020 World Half Marathon Championships. She claimed victories at the2021 New York City and2022 Boston Marathon and finished third at the2023 London Marathon. She claimed a further victory at the2024 London Marathon, finishing in two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds and breaking the women’s only world record (that is, the world record for the fastest time by a female marathon runner without using male pace makers).[1][2]
Her best time for thehalf marathon of 1:05:06, set on 10 February 2017 in the UAE, is a formerhalf marathon world record. She holds the women's only half marathon world record of 1:05:16 set at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships inGdynia, Poland, which was an improvement on her own previous record.[3]
Jepchirchir was born on a farm inTurbo, Kenya among 28 siblings,[4] and her father hadthree wives. Her mother died when she was two years old, and she was adopted by an uncle and raised inKamagut. She is a member of theKalenjin people.[5]
Jepchirchir rantrack while at school and was spurred on by the achievements of fellow KenyanMary Keitany, who was a world half marathon champion at the time.[6] After dropping out of high school at age 18 because she could not afford school fees, she began to pursue running as a career as a way out of poverty.[5] She began to compete in road races in 2013, starting with two wins at10K runs in South Africa, then a third-place finish at the Kisumu Marathon in her native Kenya, finishing the distance in 2:47:33 hours.[7] She turned tocross country running at the start of 2014 and managed to take second place toFaith Kipyegon at theKenyan Cross Country Championships – her first significant finish at national level.[8]
Her talent was spotted byGianni Demadonna's team and she began to earn invitations to high level European road races.[9] She won three straight races in France in late 2014, winning the Le Lion Half Marathon (in a course record of 69:12 minutes),[10] theMarseille-Cassis Classique Internationale,[11] then theCorrida de Houilles.[7] She was narrowly runner-up toJanet Kisa at the end-of-yearBOclassic 5K.[12]
She made her highest profile appearance yet at the2015 London Marathon, but failed to build on her shorter distance achievements, as she could not finish the fullmarathon distance.[7] However, she began to reach the peaks of road running in 10K and half marathon that year. Her best of 30:55 minutes at thePrague Grand Prix was the second fastest globally for the season and one week later she set a course record of 67:17 minutes to win theÚstí nad Labem Half Marathon – a time which placed her seventh on the year's top lists.[6][13][14][15] She also defended her title in Marseille in October.[16]
Jepchirchir set a new best of 66:39 minutes at the 2016Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. Despite the fast time, which moved her to 13th on the all-time lists, the strength in depth of the race left her in fourth some way behind winnerCynthia Cherotich Limo while six women ran quicker than 67 minutes (a first for the sport).[17] This performance earned her a place on the Kenyan team for the2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The five-woman team led out the start of the race, with Ethiopia'sNetsanet Gudeta andGenet Yalew also in contention. As the race progressed, this was whittled down to a Kenyan trio of Jepchirchir, Limo andMary Wacera Ngugi, and this eventually resulted in asprint finish between Limo and Jepchirchir. Despite having been among the least experienced and well-known of the Kenyan team, it was Jepchirchir who emerged as world champion, finishing the race in 67:31 minutes and leading the Kenyan women to the team title and a podium sweep with Limo and Ngugi.[18][19]
A course record came at theYangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon in April, with her run of 67:21 minutes.[20] At the 2017RAK Half Marathon she broke two world records. She took three seconds offFlorence Kiplagat's half marathon record in 65:06 minutes and set the 20K world record at 61:40 minutes.[21] Her position as the world's best was short-lived, however, asJoyciline Jepkosgei (third at the RAK race) broke both her world records the following month.[22]
In the2020 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in a time of 2:27.20, given to her byThomas Bach.[23] She won the2021 New York City Marathon with a time of 2:22:39, becoming the first person to win the Olympic gold medal and the New York City Marathon in the same year.[24] She won the2022 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:21:02.[25] Due to her hip injury, Jepchirchir had to miss the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.[26]
She won the2024 London Marathon, finishing in two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds and breaking the women’s only world record (that is, the world record for the fastest time by a female marathon runner without using male pace makers).[1][2]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | World Half Marathon Championships | Cardiff, United Kingdom | 1st | Half marathon | 1:07:31 |
| 1st | Team | 3:22:59 | |||
| 2020 | World Half Marathon Championships | Gdynia, Poland | 1st | Half marathon | 1:05:16WRwo |
| 2nd | Team | 3:18:10 | |||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Sapporo, Japan | 1st | Marathon | 2:27:20 |
| 2025 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | Marathon | 2:24:43 |
| World Marathon Majors | |||||
| 2021 | New York Marathon | New York, NY, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:22:39 |
| 2022 | Boston Marathon | Boston, MA, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:21:01 |
| 2023 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | Marathon | 2:18:38 |
| 2024 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 1st | Marathon | 2:16:16WRwo* |
Notes:*PendingIAAF ratification.
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's Half marathon World record holder 10 February 2017 – 1 April 2017 | Succeeded by |
