Cheruiyot, Vivian (1983-…), is a star runner from Kenya . Cheruiyot ranks among the leading long-distance runners in women’s track and field . Long-distance races are generally run at distances starting at 3,000 meters. (One meter equals about 3 1/4 feet.) At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Cheruiyot won the 5,000-meter race, setting an Olympic Games record of 14 minutes 27.17 seconds. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, she won the silver medal in the 5,000-meter race and the bronze medal in the 10,000-meter race.
Cheruiyot dominated women’s international long-distance running in 2011, winning the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) World Cross Country championship and IAAF World Championships in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races. She was named the women’s track and field Athlete of the Year for that year by Track & Field News magazine. In 2011, she was also selected as the Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year and the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. The Laureus award is presented annually by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a charitable organization with headquarters in London. Cheruiyot won the 10,000-meter race again at the 2015 IAAF World Championships.
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot was born on Sept. 11, 1983, in Rokocho, Kenya. She first gained recognition as a runner in 1999 when, at the age of 15, she won the junior silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships. She won the junior title in 2000. Cheruiyot qualified for the Summer Olympics in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, reaching the finals in the 5,000-meter race. She won the gold medal in the 5,000-meter race at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
