Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping and throwing. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE is a British former long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon, three-time New York Marathon champion, the 2002 Chicago Marathon winner and the 2005 World Champion in the Marathon from Helsinki. She was previously the fastest female marathoner of all time, and held the Women's World Marathon Record with a time of 2:15:25 for 16 years from 2003 to 2019 when it was broken by Brigid Kosgei.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman in that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a former Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome.
Mara Rosalind Yamauchi is a British long-distance track and road running athlete. She currently holds the third fastest time by a British woman over the marathon, behind former world-record holder, Paula Radcliffe.
Lornah Kiplagat is a Dutch professional long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and moved to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlands ever since. She used to run not only road events but also in cross country and track and field.
Kara Goucher is an American long-distance runner, author, television commentator, and podcaster. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third the following year at the Boston Marathon.
Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego is a Kenyan-born American long- and middle-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the silver medalist in the same race at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She has a personal record of 30:38.35 minutes for that event and her 5000 metres best of 14:30.42 minutes makes her the second fastest Kenyan woman for the distance.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1,500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.
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.
Desiree "Des" Nicole Linden is an American long-distance runner, author, and podcaster. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event. She holds the women's 50K world record of 2:59:54.
Gladys Cherono Kiprono is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and road running events. She became the first woman to win both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres at the African Championships in 2012. She is a three-time winner of the Berlin Marathon and the 8th fastest women marathoner of all time.
Tabitha Tsatsa is a Zimbabwean marathon elite veteran runner. She set both a national record and a personal best time of 2:29:20, by finishing fourth at the 2008 Dong-A Seoul International Marathon, held in Seoul, South Korea.
The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held between 27 September and 6 October 2019 in Doha, Qatar, at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium, but reduced to 21,000 available seats. 1,772 athletes from 206 teams competed in 49 athletics events over the ten-day competition, comprising 24 events each for men and women, plus a mixed relay. There were 43 track and field events, 4 racewalking events, and 2 marathon road running events. The racewalking and marathon events were held in Doha Corniche.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Emily Sisson is an American long-distance runner. She set the North American record in the marathon on October 9, 2022, when she ran 2:18:29 to finish second at the Chicago Marathon. Sisson also held the American record in the half marathon from May 2022 until July 2023. She represented the United States in the 10000 metres at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing 9th and 10th. In June 2021, she won the 10000m at the 2020 US Olympic Trials and placed 10th in the 10000m final at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2024, she placed second in the marathon at the US Olympic Trials, qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics. She competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics Women's marathon on 11 August 2024, where she finished 23rd.
The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. Due to the heat in Doha, the race was scheduled to begin at 23:59 on 27 September 2019, which made it the first midnight marathon in the history of the World Championships. Even with the unusual timing, the temperature was above 30 °C (86 °F) and the humidity over 70 per cent, making conditions difficult for running. Only 40 of the 68 entrants finished the race, which was won by Ruth Chepng'etich of Kenya in 2:32.43; the slowest winning time at the World Championships. Bahrain's Rose Chelimo was second in 2:33.46, with Helalia Johannes of Namibia third in 2:34.15.
Rosemary Monica Wanjiru is a Kenyan professional female long-distance runner. She won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2015 African Games, and represented her country at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing fourth in the 10,000 metres. Wanjiru won the 2023 Tokyo Marathon and placed second at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. With her Tokyo mark, she sits sixth on the marathon world all-time list.
The 2021 London Marathon was the 41st running of the annual London Marathon on 3 October 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event.
The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's and women's event were won by Kenyan Amos Kipruto and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw respectively. The wheelchair races were won by Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner respectively, both in course record times. Over 40,000 people finished the mass participation event.
