Rosemary Wanjiru

Last updated
Rosemary Wanjiru
Rosemary Wanjiru 2023 (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Born (1994-12-09) 9 December 1994 (age 29)
Mombasa, Kenya
Sport
Country Kenya
Sport Athletics
Event Long-distance running
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
African Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2015 Brazzaville 5000 m
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Tokyo Marathon
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2022 Berlin Marathon

Rosemary Monica Wanjiru (born 9 December 1994) [1] 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.

Contents

She achieved the second-fastest ever women's marathon debut at the time at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.

Career

Rosemary Wanjiru moved to Japan as a teenager and began competing in long-distance competitions there. She was runner-up in the 3000 metres at the 2012 National Sports Festival of Japan, and won the national high schools championship over that distance the following year along with the Chiba International Cross Country title. [2] In 2014 she began competing in Corporate Japanese competitions for Team Starts. [3] In her first year of corporate competition she was East Japan champion over 1500 metres and 3000 m. She won the 2015 Sanyo Women's 10K and the 5000 m at the Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships, Oda Memorial and Nobeoka Golden Games. [4]

Wanjiru made her international debut at the 2015 African Games and won a silver medal in the 5000 m, forming a Kenyan sweep of the medals alongside Margaret Chelimo and Alice Aprot. [5] The year after she was beaten into second place at the Japan Corporate Championships by another Kenyan, Ann Karindi Mwangi. She repeated as champion at the Oda Memorial and Sanyo Women's 10K. In 2017 and 2018 she won both the Japan Corporate title and the Oda Memorial 5000 m. [4]

In 2019, Wanjiru began to compete more frequently outside of Japan. She won the Lilac Bloomsday Run and Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in the United States before going on to place third in the 10,000 m at the Kenyan Athletics Championships. This earned her her second international selection for Kenya, this time at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. [2] At the World Championships she teamed up with compatriots Agnes Jebet Tirop and Hellen Obiri to lead the pace. She fell away from the leaders in the final stage of the race and ended the race in fourth place, behind Sifan Hassan, Letesenbet Gidey and Tirop. [6]

In 2020, she competed in the women's half marathon at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships held in Gdynia, Poland, placing 10th. [7]

Two years later, Wanjiru produced the second-fastest ever women's marathon debut at the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:18:00. She went under the previous course record and finished second. [8] [9]

In March 2023, Wanjiru won the Tokyo Marathon with a 2:16:28 clocking, taking more than a minute and a half off her personal best to move up to sixth on the event's world all-time list. This was only the second marathon race of her career. [1] [10]

International competitions

Representing Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2015 African Games Brazzaville, Congo 2nd 5000 m 15:30.18
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 4th 10,000 m 30:35.75
2020 World Half Marathon Championships Gdynia, Poland 10th Half Marathon 1:07:10
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 6th Marathon 2:26:42
World Marathon Majors
2022 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 2nd Marathon 2:18:00
2023 Tokyo Marathon Tokyo, Japan 1st Marathon 2:16:28

See also

Related Research Articles

Lucy Wangui Kabuu is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres events. She has represented Kenya twice at the Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.

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

Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events. She served a doping ban until 23 August 2015.

<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.

Philes Moora Ongori is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in half marathon and marathon events.

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

Yukiko Akaba is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, half marathon and marathon events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshimi Ozaki</span> Japanese marathon runner

Yoshimi Ozaki is a Japanese long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon. She won the 2008 Tokyo Women's Marathon in a personal best time of 2:23:30 hours. A year later she took the silver medal in the event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.

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

Yuri Kanō is a Japanese athlete who specialises in long distance running, including the marathon.

<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">Bedan Karoki Muchiri</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Bedan Karoki Muchiri is a Kenyan professional long distance runner who competes in track, cross country and road running disciplines. He represented Kenya at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mika Yoshikawa</span> Japanese runner

Mika Yoshikawa is a Japanese middle- and long-distance runner. She is a five-time national champion over 1500 metres and won the 2012 Japanese title over 10,000 metres. She has represented Japan at the Olympics, World Championships in Athletics, the Asian Athletics Championships, and the Asian Games.

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

Mai Ito is a Japanese long-distance runner who competes in half marathon and marathon races. She represented Japan in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and competed at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, taking the team bronze medal.

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

Ruth Wanjiru Kuria is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in marathon and half marathon races. She has a personal best of 2:27:38 hours for the longer distance and was the 2013 winner of the Eindhoven Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sifan Hassan</span> Dutch middle- and long-distance runner (born 1993)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanyo Women's Half Marathon</span>

The Sanyo Women's Half Marathon, also known as the Sanyo Women's Road Race, is an annual road running competition for women held in December in Okayama, Japan. It features both a 10K run and half marathon race. Sanyo Shimbun, a daily newspaper, is the title sponsor for the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Chepyego Kaptich</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Sally Chepyego Kaptich is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes mainly in track and road running events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Wacera Ngugi</span> Kenyan long-distance runner (born 1988)

Mary Wacera Ngugi is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events. She holds personal bests of 66:29 minutes for the half marathon, 30:50 minutes for the 10K run, and 2:27:36 for the marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Tirop</span> Kenyan long-distance runner (1995–2021)

Agnes Jebet Tirop was a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She won bronze medals in the 10,000 metres at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Tirop became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women's race, after Zola Budd. At the time of her death in 2021, she was the world-record holder in the 10 kilometres women's-only event.

Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui is a Kenyan-Kazakhstani professional long-distance runner who competes in distances from 3000 metres to the half marathon. She has worked at the Altay Athletics club in Kazakhstan since 2017 Coach by Ken Rotich Kenya and USA Richards Anderson she train with a group of number of athletes and others. At junior level she was twice African champion and shared in the team gold medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Pauline Kaveke Kamulu is a Kenyan female long-distance runner who competes in track, road and cross country running disciplines. She was a medalist at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 World Athletics Championships – Women's 10,000 metres</span>

The women's 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on 28 September 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 "Rosemary WANJIRU – Athlete Profile". World Athletics . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Rosemary Monica Wanjiru. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  3. Larner, Brett (2016-04-30). Wanjiru and Kamais Take 5000 m Titles at 50th Oda Memorial Meet. Japan Running News. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  4. 1 2 Rosemary-Monica Wanjiru. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  5. 5000 m - Women - Final. Brazzaville2015. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  6. Landells, Steve (2019-09-28). Report: women's 10,000m - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  7. "Women's Half Marathon" (PDF). 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. Murimi, Brian (2022-09-25). "Rosemary Wanjiru runs the second-fastest women's marathon debut in history, clocking 2:18:00". NTV Kenya . Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  9. "Tigist Assefa Runs Nearly 20-Minute PR to Destroy Berlin Marathon Course Record". Runner's World. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022.
  10. Henderson, Jason (5 March 2023). "Rosemary Wanjiru and Deso Gelmisa take Tokyo Marathon titles". AW . Retrieved 5 March 2023.