Ruth Chepng'etich

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Ruth Chepng'etich
Ruth Chepngetich (2021 Chichago Marathon).jpg
Chepng'etich at the 2021 Chicago Marathon
Personal information
Born (1994-08-08) 8 August 1994 (age 30)
Kericho, Rift Valley Province, Kenya
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
Country Kenya
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Half marathon, Marathon, 10 km
Turned pro2016
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Doha Marathon
World Half Marathon Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Valencia Team
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2021 Chicago Marathon
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Chicago Marathon
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Chicago Marathon
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Chicago Marathon
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2020 London Marathon

Ruth Chepng'etich (often spelled Ruth Chepngetich, born 8 August 1994) [1] is a Kenyan road runner who is the current women's world record holder in the marathon, with a time of 2:09:56 set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. [2]

Contents

She 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. [3] Chepng'etich is the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon, [3] and also holds the sixth-fastest women's mark of all time for the half marathon, at 1 hour 4 minutes and 2 seconds which was at lstanbul Half-Marathon.

Chepng'etich is currently suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for a banned substance. [4]

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. [5] [6] [7]

2019

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

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. [9]

2020–2021

On 4 October 2020, she finished third in the London Marathon. [1]

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. [10] [11] Chepng'etich's record has since been broken, and she is currently the sixth fastest woman in history at the distance. [12]

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. [1] 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. [13]

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. [14] [15]

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. [16] [13]

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

Distance intervalTimeSplit
5 km15:1115:11
10 km30:4015:29
15 km46:1915:39
20 km62:1015:51
Half65:44(3:34)
25 km1:18:0315:53
30 km1:34:0115:58
35 km1:50:2516:24
40 km2:07:0216:37
Marathon2:14:18(7:16)

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. [17] In setting this record, she became the first woman to 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. [3]

Chepng'etich's world record was partially met with criticism and accusations of doping. Robert Johnson of LetsRun.com directly asked Chepng'etich her thoughts on the criticisms. The Kenyan National Assembly considered Johnson's question "disrespectful". Her improvement has been attributed to the use of a Maurten carbohydrate mix and the Nike Alphafly 3 shoe. [18] [19]

Provisional suspension

On 17 July 2025, Chepng'etich was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a banned substance used as a masking agent. [20] HCTZ has a minimum reporting level of 20 nanograms per millilitre (ng/mL) in urine. Chepngetich's sample showed 3,800 ng/mL. [21]

Achievements

Personal bests

DistancePerformanceLocationDateNotes
5000 metres 15:26.70 Nairobi, Kenya9 April 2022
10,000 metres 31:47.9 Nairobi, Kenya26 April 2022
10 km 30:29 Manchester, United Kingdom22 May 2022(also 30:57 not legal)[ clarification needed ]
Half marathon 1:04:02 Istanbul, Turkey4 April 2021 Mx NR, 6th of all time
Marathon 2:09:56 Chicago, United States13 October 2024 Mx WR [17]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
10 kilometres
2018Memorial Samuel Wanjiru 10 km Nyahururu, Kenya2nd10 km33:09
Marathons representing Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
2017 Istanbul Marathon Istanbul, Turkey1stMarathon2:22:36
2018 Paris Marathon Paris, France2ndMarathon2:22:59
Istanbul Marathon Istanbul, Turkey1stMarathon2:18:35 CR
2019 Dubai Marathon Dubai, United Arab Emirates1stMarathon2:17:08
World Championships Doha, Qatar1stMarathon 2:32:43
2020 London Marathon London, United Kingdom3rdMarathon2:22:05
2021 Olympic Games Sapporo, JapanMarathon DNF
Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States1stMarathon2:22:31
2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon Nagoya, Japan1stMarathon2:17:18 CR
World Championships Eugene, OR, United StatesMarathon DNF
Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States1stMarathon2:14:18
2023 Nagoya Women's Marathon Nagoya, Japan1stMarathon2:18:08
2024 Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States1stMarathon2:09:57 WR
Half marathons representing Nike
2016Rabat Half Marathon Rabat, Morocco4thHalf Marathon1:11:33
Nairobi Half Marathon Nairobi, Kenya2ndHalf Marathon1:14:13
2017 Adana Half Marathon Adana, Turkey1stHalf Marathon1:09:06
Paris Half Marathon Paris, France1stHalf Marathon1:08:08
Milano Half Marathon Milano, Italy1stHalf Marathon1:07:42
Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey1stHalf Marathon1:06:19
Bogotá Half Marathon Bogotá, Colombia3rdHalf Marathon1:13:57
Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Lisbon, Portugal4thHalf Marathon1:10:33
2018 World Half Marathon Championships Valencia, Spain13thHalf Marathon1:09:12
Copenhagen Half Marathon Copenhagen, Denmark5thHalf Marathon1:07:02
2019Bahrain Night Half Marathon Manama, Bahrain2ndHalf Marathon1:06:09
Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey1stHalf Marathon1:05:30 CR
Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Gifu, Japan1stHalf Marathon1:06:06
Bogotá Half Marathon Bogotá, Colombia1stHalf Marathon1:10:39
2020 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon New Delhi, India2ndHalf marathon1:05:06
2021 Istanbul Half Marathon Istanbul, Turkey1stHalf marathon1:04:02 WR

National championships

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ruth CHEPNGETICH – Athlete Profile". World Athletics . Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. "World Records". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ruth Chepngetich does something no other woman has done before in 2024 Chicago Marathon with likely world record finish". NBC Chicago. 13 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  4. "AIU Suspends World Record-Holder Chepng'etich" (PDF). Athletics Integrity Unit (Press release). 17 July 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  5. "2018 Istanbul Marathon". Podisti – Roberto Annoscia. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. "Ruth Chepngetich Smashes Istanbul Marathon Record with 2:18:35". Watch Athletics. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  7. "Ruth Chepngetich's amazing run at the 2018 Vodafone Istanbul Marathon". Run Blog Run. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  8. "Ruth Chepngetich shatters Dubai Marathon course record". Daily Nation . 25 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. "Leichtathletik-WM: Chepngetich gewinnt langsamsten WM-Marathon – 28 Läuferinnen müssen aufgeben". Spiegel Online. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  10. "İstanbul Yarı Maratonu'nda dünya rekoru!". NTV Spor (in Turkish). 4 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  11. Snider-McGrath, Ben (4 April 2021). "Ruth Chepngetich runs 1:04:02, breaks half-marathon world record in Istanbul". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  12. "Half Marathon – women – senior – all". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  13. 1 2 "Ruth Chepngetich Runs 2:14:18 to Win 2022 Chicago Marathon after Crazy 65:44 First Half". LetsRun.com . 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  14. Dickinson, Marley (1 October 2021). "Nagoya Women's Marathon now offers the most prize money of any race". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  15. Whittington, Jess (13 March 2022). "Chepngetich runs 2:17:18 to win Nagoya Women's Marathon". World Athletics . Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  16. Henderson, Jason (9 October 2022). "Chepngetich goes No.2 all-time in Chicago Marathon". AW . Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. 1 2 Patterson, Hunter (13 October 2024). "Ruth Chepngetich shatters women's world record at Chicago Marathon". The New York Times .
  18. Hutchinson, Alex (22 October 2024). "Ruth Chepngetich's New Marathon Record Was Outrageous. Was It Fair?". Outside Online. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  19. LetsRun.com (18 October 2024). "Ruth Chepngetich's 2:09 Marathon World Record Has Broken Our Brains". LetsRun.com. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  20. "Ruth Chepngetich: Women's marathon world record holder suspended for doping". BBC Sport. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  21. Kahler, Theo (17 July 2025). "Marathon World Record-Holder Ruth Chepngetich Suspended After Positive Drug Test". Runner's World.
Records
Preceded by Women's Half marathon World record holder
4 April 2021 – 24 October 2021
Succeeded by