Ruth Chepng'etich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
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
Height	1.65 m
Weight	48 kg
Sport
Country	Kenya
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Half marathon, Marathon, 10 km
Turned pro	2016
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Half marathon: 1:04:02 (Istanbul 2021) Marathon: 2:09:56 Mx WR (Chicago 2024)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Kenya World Championships Gold 2019 Doha Marathon World Half Marathon Championships Silver 2018 Valencia Team World Marathon Majors Gold 2021 Chicago Marathon Gold 2022 Chicago Marathon Gold 2024 Chicago Marathon Bronze 2020 London Marathon

Ruth Chepng'etich (often spelled Ruth Chepngetich, born 8 August 1994) is a Kenyan road runner who is the current world record holder (pending ratification) in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56 set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. 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. She is the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon, and also holds the third-fastest mark of all time for the half marathon, at 1 hour 4 minutes and 2 seconds.

Career

2018

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.

2019

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

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.

2020–2021

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

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. Chepng'etich's record has since been broken, and she is currently the third fastest woman in history at the distance behind Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Letesenbet Gidey.

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. 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.

2022

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.

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.

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

2023–present: Marathon world record

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. In setting this record, she became the first woman 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.

Achievements

Personal bests

International competitions

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

• Kenyan Athletics Championships
  • 10,000 metres: 2022
• Kenyan Cross Country Championships
  • Senior women's race: 2023

See also

In Spanish: Ruth Chepngetich para niños