Beatrice Chepkoech
![]() Chepkoech competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Bomet, Kenya | 6 July 1991
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Weight | 54 kg (119 lb)[1] |
Sport | |
Country | Kenya |
Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | 3000 metres steeplechase; Middle-, Long-distance running |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | 3000 m st.: 8:44.32 WR (Monaco 2018) |
Medal record |
Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik (born 6 July 1991)[2] is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won gold medals at the 2019 World Championships, and 2018 African Championships. Chepkoech took also bronze in the 1500 metres at the 2015 African Games. She is the current world record holder in 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 8:44.32 set in 2018 in Monaco. With that mark she became the first woman to break the 8:50 and 8:45 barriers.
Chepkoech is a two-time 3000 m steeplechase Diamond League champion.
Biography[edit]
Beatrice Chepkoech began her career in road running, taking top three placings in 2014 at several low-key races in Germany and the Netherlands.[3] She switched to track running in 2015 and set a 1500 m personal best of 4:03.28 minutes to win at the KBC Night of Athletics. This time placed her just outside the top twenty athletes for the season and she was the fifth fastest Kenyan.[4] A bronze medal in the event followed at the 2015 African Games.[5]
Chepkoech ended her 2015 season with a run in the 2000 metres steeplechase at the ISTAF Berlin and this prompted her to try the full 3000 m Olympic event. She made a successful transition and on the 2016 IAAF Diamond League circuit she ran 9:17.41 minutes for fourth at the Prefontaine Classic before taking second at the Stockholm Diamond League. She ranked fifth in the world upon entry to the 2016 Rio Olympics.[6]
She finished second in the 1500 m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.[2]
In July 2018, Chepkoech shaved eight seconds off the women's world record in the 3000 m steeplechase, winning Monaco Herculis race in 8:44.32 (highlights Video on YouTube).[7] She earned overall Diamond League title in her specialist event that year, securing three victories out of five events including final in Brussels.[2]
In 2019, she competed in the senior women's race at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark.[8] She finished in seventh place.[8] Chepkoech won her second 3000 m steeplechase Diamond Trophy that year, winning four of five events including final in Zürich.[2]
She broke the women's 5 km road world record (mixed race) in a time of 14 minutes 43 seconds at the Morocco Run in February 2021. The previous world record in that event was set by Caroline Kipkirui in 2018 with 14:48. Siffan Hassen ran a 5k race in 2019 (women only) with 14:44.[9][10]
Achievements[edit]
All information from World Athletics profile.[2]
International competitions[edit]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | African Games | Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo | 3rd | 1500 m | 4:19.16 |
2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 4th | 3000 m s'chase | 9:16.05 |
2017 | World Cross Country Championships | Kampala, Uganda | 1st | Mixed relay | 22:22 |
World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 4th | 3000 m s'chase | 9:10.45 | |
2018 | World Indoor Championship | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 7th | 1500 m | 4:13.59 |
Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | 2nd | 1500 m | 4:03.09 | |
African Championships | Asaba, Nigeria | 1st | 3000 m s'chase | 8:59.88 | |
Continental Cup | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 1st | 3000 m s'chase | 9:07.92 CR | |
2019 | World Cross Country Championships | Aarhus, Denmark | 7th | Senior race | 22:22 |
2nd | Senior team | 25 pts | |||
World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | 3000 m s'chase | 8:57.84 CR | |
2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 7th | 3000 m s'chase | 9:16.33 |
Circuit wins and titles, National championships[edit]
- Diamond League champion 3000 m steeplechase (2):
2018,
2019
- 2017 (1): Paris Meeting
- 2018 (3): Paris (WL PB), Monaco Herculis (WR), Brussels Memorial Van Damme
- 2019 (4): Shanghai Diamond League (WL MR), Prefontaine Classic in Stanford, CA (WL MR), Birmingham British Grand Prix (MR), Zürich Weltklasse
- Kenyan Athletics Championships
- 1500 metres: 2017
- 3000 metres steeplechase: 2018
Personal bests[edit]
- 1500 metres – 4:03.09 (Gold Coast 2018)
- 3000 metres – 8:22.92 (Doha 2020)
- 2000 metres steeplechase – 6:02.47 (Berlin 2015)
- 3000 metres steeplechase – 8:44.32 (Monaco 2018) World record
- Road
References[edit]
- ^ Chepkoech[permanent dead link]. Rio2016. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Beatrice Chepkoech. World Athletics. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
- ^ Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
- ^ Senior Outdoor Women's 1500 metres 2015. IAAF. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
- ^ Big-Time Women's Steeple Talent Set for Pre Classic Archived 2 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Diamond League (24 May 2016). Retrieved on 2016-08-13.
- ^ Senior Outdoor Women's 3000 metres steeplechase 2016. IAAF. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
- ^ "Chepkoech breaks steeplechase world record in Monaco – IAAF Diamond League | REPORT | World Athletics".
- ^ a b "Senior women's race" (PDF). 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "14:43! Chepkoech breaks world 5km record in Monaco | REPORT | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "5km road world record: Beatrice Chepkoech sets new women's mark in Monaco". BBC Sport. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
External links[edit]

- Living people
- 1991 births
- Kenyan female steeplechase runners
- Kenyan female middle-distance runners
- Olympic athletes of Kenya
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- African Games bronze medalists for Kenya
- African Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Kenyan female cross country runners
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya
- People from Kericho County
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya
- World Athletics Championships medalists
- World Athletics Championships winners
- Diamond League winners
- African Championships in Athletics winners
- IAAF Continental Cup winners
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games