Benita Willis

Last updated

Benita Willis
Benita Willis.jpg
London 2012 Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameBenita Jaye Willis
Born (1979-05-06) 6 May 1979 (age 44)
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5+12 in)
Weight50 kg (110 lb)
Sport
CountryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
SportAthletics
Event Marathon
Medal record
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Brussels Long race
World Half Marathon Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2003 Vilamoura Half marathon

Benita Jaye Willis (born on 6 May 1979 in Mackay, Queensland) is an Australian long-distance runner, who is a three-time national champion in the women's 5,000 metres. Her foremost achievement is a gold medal in the long race at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She has also won team medals at that competition on two occasions. She has competed at the Summer Olympics four times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) and has twice represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games (2002, 2006).

Contents

At the 2003 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships she won the bronze medal with a time of 1:09:26 hours. In 2004, she won the 8K at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and also the women's half marathon title at the Great North Run. She was 24th in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Olympic Games. At the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she won her second career medal at the event by coming fourth in the short race and helping the Australian women to the team bronze medal. She set a time of 2:22:36 at the 2006 Chicago Marathon, a new Australian national record and an Oceania area record. [1] She won the Berlin Half Marathon in 2007 in a personal best time of 1:08.28 hours. Her third international cross country medal came at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships as she finished eleventh in the long race to lead Australia to third on the team podium.

She finished third at the 2010 Great Ireland Run, recording a time of 34:28. [2] In spite of a break of over three years without competing over the distance, she was the runner-up at the 2012 Houston Marathon with a time 2:28:24 hours (within the Olympic qualifying standard). [3]

Willis was a training partner of Australian distance star Craig Mottram.

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
1998 World Junior Championships Annecy, France 7th1500m 4:16.75
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia6th (heats)5000 m 15:21:37 min
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal6th3000 m 8:42.75 min
World Championships Edmonton, Canada12th5000 m 15:36.75 min
Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia4th5000 m 15:22.31 min
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom7th (heats)1500 m 4:24.43 min
6th5000 m 15:26.55 min
IAAF World Cup Madrid, Spain4th5000 m 15:20.83 min
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England7th3000 m 8:51.62 min
World Championships Paris, France8th10,000 m 30:37.68 min
World Half Marathon Championships Vilamoura, Portugal3rdHalf marathon1:09:26
2004 World Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium1stLong race (8 km) 27:17
Olympic Games Athens, Greece24th10,000 m 32:32.01 min
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland19th10,000 m 31:55.15 min
2006 World Cross Country Championships Fukuoka, Japan4thShort race (4 km) 12:55
3rdShort team race69 pts
Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia4th10,000 m 31:58.08 min
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan17th10,000 m 32:55.94 min
2008 World Cross Country Championships Edinburgh, Scotland11thLong race (7.905 km) 25:56
3rdLong team race84 pts
Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 21stMarathon 2:32:06
2012 Olympic Games London, England100thMarathon 2:49:38

Circuit wins

Recognition

In 2018, inducted into Australia Hall of Fame. [4] Inaugural inductee to University of Canberra Sport Walk of Fame in 2022. [5]

Related Research Articles

Edith Chewanjel Masai is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country and track races, then road races in her late career. She represented Kenya at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her best achievements are three individual gold medals in the short race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships between 2002 and 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derartu Tulu</span> Ethiopian former long-distance runner (born 1972)

Derartu Tulu NL COL is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. She won 10,000 metres titles at the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Olympics, and a bronze in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics. At the World Championships in Athletics, Derartu took silver in the 10,000 m in 1995, and a gold in 2001. She was a three-time IAAF World Cross Country champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizuki Noguchi</span> Japanese marathon runner

Mizuki Noguchi is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance.

Isabella Bosibori Ochichi from Kenya was the silver medal winner in the final of the women's 5,000 meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. She finished in a time of 14:48.19, about 2.5 seconds behind the winner, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priscah Jepleting Cherono</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Priscah Jepleting Cherono, née Ngetich is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and cross-country running. She represented Kenya in the 5000 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is the Kenyan record holder over the two miles distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lornah Kiplagat</span> Dutch long-distance runner

Lornah Kiplagat is a Dutch professional long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlands since. She used to run not only road events but also in cross country and track and field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayoko Fukushi</span> Japanese long-distance runner

Kayoko Fukushi is a Japanese long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000, 10,000 metres and marathon. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. She holds a marathon best of 2:22:17 hours.

Asha Gigi Roba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. Her personal best of 2:26:05 hours was set in 2004 at the Paris Marathon, where she came second. She represented Ethiopia in the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the World Championships in Athletics. She has won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and the Florence Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Kiplagat</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Florence Jebet Kiplagat is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She is a two-time world champion, having won at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. She was the world record holder for the women's half marathon with a time of 1:05:09 hours until it was broken by Peres Jepchirchir on 10 February 2017 at the RAK Half Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irina Mikitenko</span> German long-distance runner

Irina Mikitenko, néeVolynskaya, is a retired German long-distance runner who competed in marathons. She won the Berlin Marathon in 2008 and is a two-time winner of the London Marathon. She has competed at the Summer Olympics on four occasions.

Colleen S. De Reuck is a long-distance runner from South Africa, who became an American citizen on 11 December 2000. She has had a long-lasting career, running in her forties, and made a total of four appearances at the Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helalia Johannes</span> Namibian long-distance runner

Helalia Lukeiko Johannes, also known as Hilaria Johannes, is a Namibian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She holds the Namibian records in the 10 km, 20 km, half marathon and marathon events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Jane Weightman</span> Australian long-distance runner

Lisa Jane Weightman is an Australian long distance runner and four time Olympian who specializes in the marathon event. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she came 26th in the Women's marathon with a time of 2:34.19, 7 minutes behind the eventual winner, Peres Jepchirchir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Cherop</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Sharon Jemutai Cherop is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won a bronze medal at the age of sixteen in the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winner in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won the Boston Marathon in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hitomi Niiya</span> Japanese long-distance runner

Hitomi Niiya is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who competes in track, cross country running and marathon races. Niiya competed for Japan at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is a two-time silver medallist at the Asian Athletics Championships and has represented Japan three times at the World Athletics Championships. She represents Team Toyota Industries in national competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priscah Jeptoo</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Priscah Jeptoo is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She has won marathons in New York, Paris, Turin, and London and has a best time of 2:20:14 for the distance. She was the runner-up in the marathon at both the World Championships in Athletics in 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics. She ranks third all-time over the half marathon distance with her best of 66 minutes and 11 seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silvana Cruciata</span> Italian long-distance runner

Silvana Cruciata is a former Italian middle- and long-distance runner. She represented Italy at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and shared medals with the Italian women's teams at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Her best of 18.084 km for the one hour run set in 1981 was a world record for over seventeen years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriana Aparecida da Silva</span> Brazilian long-distance runner

Adriana Aparecida da Silva is a Brazilian long-distance runner who competes in half marathons and marathons. She has represented her country at World Championship-level both on the roads and in cross country. She won two gold medals in the marathon at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico and 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albina Mayorova</span> Russian long-distance runner

Albina Mayorova, née Albina Gennadyevna Ivanova, is a Russian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She has a personal best of 2:23:52 hours for the distance. Since her marathon debut in 2001, she has won international races in Dubai, Nagano, Singapore and Nagoya. She has also had top four finishes at the Chicago, London and Honolulu Marathons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce Chepkirui</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Joyce Chepkirui is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events. She established herself as a half marathon runner, winning races in Granollers, Bogotá and Gothenburg. She set a best of 1:06:19 hours to win the 2014 Prague Half Marathon. She also competes in 10K road races and her personal best of 30:38 minutes makes her fifth fastest woman ever.

References

  1. iaaf.org - Area Records - Outdoor - Oceania - Women
  2. Fagan and Murray nab 10Km victories in Dublin. IAAF (2010-04-19). Retrieved on 2010-04-24.
  3. Jufar sizzles 2:06:51 as records tumble at Houston Marathon. IAAF (2012-01-16). Retrieved on 2012-01-16.
  4. "This year's Hall of Fame inductee is @BenitaWillis". Athletiucs Australia Twitter. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  5. "Walk of Fame Members". University of Canberra. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.