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Irene Chepet Cheptai

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Irene Cheptai
Cheptai at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Personal information
Full nameIrene Chepet Cheptai
NationalityKenyan
Born (1992-02-04) 4 February 1992 (age 32)
Sport
CountryKenya
SportAthletics
Event(s)Middle-, Long-distance running
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Kenya
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 10,000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kampala Senior race
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kampala Senior team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Bydgoszcz Senior team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Edinburgh Junior race
Silver medal – second place 2008 Edinburgh Junior team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Qingzhen Senior team
World Marathon Majors
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Chicago Marathon

Irene Chepet Cheptai (born 4 February 1992)[1] is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running. She was the gold medallist at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships and led Kenya to the team title. Cheptai won the silver medal for the 10,000 metres at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Prior to that she was a junior silver medallist at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships and represented Kenya in the senior race in 2013 and 2015, winning team medals both times.

Career

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Irene Chepet Cheptai made her international debut at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where she ran a personal best of 9:22.05 minutes to place seventh overall in the 3000 metres.[1] The following year she established herself internationally on grass by taking the silver medal in the junior race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, losing only to Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba in a sprint finish.[2] She did not compete at a high level for several years after that and marked her entrance into the senior ranks with a seventh-place finish in the 5000 metres at the 2012 Kenyan Athletics Championships.[3]

Cheptai began to make an impact at senior level in the 2013 season, starting with a runner-up finish at the Cross Internacional de Itálica and third place at the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza.[4][5] Second place to Margaret Muriuki at the Kenya Cross Country Championships brought on her selection for the senior national team,[6] and finished tenth at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships (although only fifth best among the winning Kenyan team).[7] She competed on the IAAF Diamond League track circuit for the first time that year and managed personal bests of 8:56.20 minutes and 14:50.99 minutes for the 3000 m and 5000 m respectively.[1]

The 2014 season was a step back on the track for Cheptai, as she finished lowly in Diamond League races and failed to improve her bests. She did make progress in road running, however, coming second at the Groningen Four-Mile Run and Nairobi Diamond 10K Run, setting a best of 31:45 minutes at the latter.[3] She began training with Turkish athletics club Üsküdar Belediyesi and brought the club victory in the individual and team categories at the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country.[8] After winning the Discovery Kenya Cross Country,[9] Cheptai was again selected for the Kenyan team for the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and reached a new high in seventh place, winning the team silver medal with Kenya.[10][11] On the 2015 IAAF Diamond League circuit, she placed in the top six of the 5000 m at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, Prefontaine Classic and Bislett Games.[3] A runner-up finish to Viola Kibiwott at the 2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials earned her a place on her first senior track team for Kenya.[12]

From the beginning of 2016, she started her collaboration with the Italian Coach Renato Canova, and during the season she achieved PB in both the 5000m (14:43.42) and 10,000m (31:15.38).[1]

She won her first national title at the 2017 Kenyan Cross Country Championships.[13]

At the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Cheptai won individual and team gold, in a historic event in which Kenya secured the top six positions in the senior women's race.

Personal bests

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Road

International competitions

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Representing  Kenya
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result
2007 World Youth Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 7th 3000 m 9:22.05
2008 World Cross Country Championships Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2nd Junior race 20:04
2nd Junior team 20 pts
2013 World Cross Country Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 10th Senior race 25:01
1st Senior team 19 pts
2015 European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country Guadalajara, Spain 1st Senior race 20:43
World Cross Country Championships Qingzhen, China 7th Senior race 26:26
2nd Senior team 19 pts
World Championships Beijing, China 7th 5000 m 15:03.41
2017 World Cross Country Championships Kampala, Uganda 1st Senior race 31:57
1st Senior team 10 pts
World Championships London, United Kingdom 7th 10,000 m 31:21.11
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 6th 10,000 m 30:44.00
2022 Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 2nd 10,000 m 30:49.52

National titles

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Notes

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The athlete's name may also be rendered as Irine Chebet Cheptai.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Irene CHEPTAI – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. ^ Brown, Matthew (2008-03-30). Junior Women's Race Report - Edinburgh 2008". IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  3. ^ a b c d Irene Cheptai. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  4. ^ Valiente, Emeterio (2013-01-20). Birech outsprints Bett, Cherono cruises to victory at Italica meeting. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  5. ^ Valiente, Emeterio (2013-01-14). Kipruto and Burka the commanding victors at Elgoibar. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  6. ^ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2013-02-16). Rono and Muriuki win Kenyan World Cross Trials in Nairobi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  7. ^ Senior Race women 40th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  8. ^ Mills, Steven (2015-02-01). World champions wilt at South Rift championships – cross-country round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  9. ^ Mills, Steven (2015-02-08). Derrick secures domestic hat-trick at US Champs – cross-country round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  10. ^ Chebet and Karoki lead Kenya's final team for World Cross. IAAF (2015-03-19). Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  11. ^ Senior Race women IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2015. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  12. ^ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2015-08-01). ‘Fergie’ topples ‘King David’, Kiprop, Sum soar. Capital FM. Retrieved on 2015-08-02.
  13. ^ Evans, Kip (2017-02-18). Barsoton and Cheptai take Kenyan cross-country titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2017-03-22.
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