Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Kapchorwa District, Uganda | 27 February 1989||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 56 kg (123 lb) (2012) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Uganda | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Long-distance running | ||||||||||||||||||||
Team | NN Running Team | ||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||
Olympic finals |
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Personal bests | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Stephen Kiprotich ("KIP-roh-tich", born 27 February 1989) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is an Olympic marathon champion, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Kiprotich also won a gold at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. After Ethiopia's Gezahegne Abera, he is the second person to follow an Olympic marathon title with a world championship gold medal for the same event.
Kiprotich became 2012 Olympic champion with a winning time of 2:08:01 in hot, sunny, and humid conditions. [1] [2] This was the first Olympic medal for Uganda since 1996, the first Olympic gold medal for the country since 1972, and the country's first-ever medal in the marathon. [3] He won the Moscow IAAF Championship marathon on 17 August 2013.
Kiprotich is the youngest of seven children of subsistence farmers from Kapchorwa District, near the Uganda-Kenya border. As a child, he missed three years of elementary school due to an undiagnosed illness. From 2004 to 2006, he quit athletics to concentrate on school. [4] Then, at the age of 17, he quit school and moved to the Eldoret region of Kenya, in the Rift Valley, to train for the marathon with Eliud Kipchoge. He was assisted by A Running Start, a non-profit foundation based in New York. [2] [5] [6]
Kiprotich ran a personal best in the marathon of 2:07:20 in 2011 at the Enschede Marathon in the Netherlands, which set a new course record for the Enschede Marathon and a new Ugandan record. [7] He finished third in the 2012 Tokyo Marathon with a time of 2:07:50. [8]
Kiprotich was inspired in part by John Akii-Bua, the only previous Ugandan Olympic gold medallist, who won the 400 metres hurdles at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany setting a new world record in the process. [9] He then went on to win the London 2012 Olympic Marathon, ahead of Kenyan runners Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, who finished second and third, respectively.
In 2012, Kiprotich won the Nile Special-Uspa Sports Personality of the Year award, the Ugandan sports award. [10]
In 2013, he won the IAAF Moscow 2013 Marathon in 2:09:51 to grab the gold medal.
The following year, Kiprotich took part and completed the New York City Marathon in 2:13:25. [11] Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich was the winner in 2:10.59. [12] In February 2015, he ran a new personal best in the marathon of 2:06:33 in finishing second at the Tokyo Marathon. [13]
In 2015, Kiprotich appeared in Jayant Maru's film SIPI the movie, a Ugandan produced film. [14]
In 2016, Stephen Kiprotich ran in his second Olympic marathon at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games; Kiprotich, the defending champion, finished 14th in 2:13:32 in a race won by Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge.
In 2017, he represented Uganda at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda. Kiprotich finished 17th in a race won by Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor. He went on to finish second in both the Hamburg Marathon and Fukuoka Marathon, clocking 2:07:31 and 2:07:10, respectively.
The following year, he competed in the Hamburg Marathon and Toronto Waterfront Marathon, finishing off of the podium in fifth and seventh, respectively.
In 2019, Kiprotich was third in the Hamburg Marathon in 2:08:31 and represented Uganda in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar. Stephen finished 18th in 2:15:04 in a race won by Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa.
Kiprotich's next marathon was in April 2021 when he finished fifth at the NN Mission Marathon in Enschede, Netherlands in a time of 2:09:04. He was the first Ugandan to finish, beating Geoffrey Kusuro and Ugandan national record holder Felix Chemonges.
Stephen Kiprotich was selected for the Ugandan team in the men's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. [15] He is expected to compete in August 2021 alongside teammates, Fred Musobo and Felix Chemonges. [16]
Kiprotich is a member of the NN Running Team and trains in Kapchorwa, Uganda.
Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete. He was the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC) until 29 September 2017. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2000, he became an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012, he was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame.
Kapchorwa District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Kapchorwa is the district's main municipal, administrative, and commercial center, and is the site of the district headquarters. It is also the home district of Stephen Kiprotich, the men's marathon gold medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and Joshua Cheptegei, the men's 5,000 m gold medalist at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
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Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
The Sebei are a Southern Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting western Kenya, eastern Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo. They speak Kupsabiny, a Kalenjin language. The Sapiiny occupy three districts, namely Bukwo, Kween and Kapchorwa in Uganda, Transnzoia county, Bungoma county and West Pokot county in Kenya
Abel Kirui is a long-distance runner from Kenya who competes in marathons. He had back-to-back wins in the World Championship marathon in 2009 and 2011. Kirui won in 2009 with a time of 2:06:54, then defended his title with a winning margin of two minutes and 28 seconds – the largest ever margin at the World Championship event. He earned the silver medal in the 2012 London Olympic marathon.
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the former world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:23, which he set at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. He has run under 2 hours 4 minutes for the marathon on four occasions.
Michael Shelley is an Australian long-distance runner who competes in track events and road races. He has won gold medals in the marathon event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, Scotland, as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia. He has also represented Australia at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. On the road, he has won at the Gold Coast Half Marathon and the City2Surf race in Sydney.
The men's marathon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London took place on the Olympic marathon street course on 12 August, the final day of the Games. One hundred and five athletes from 67 nations competed. The event was won by Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, the nation's first Olympic men's marathon victory and the nation's only medal in 2012. Kenya earned its fourth and fifth medals in five Games, with Abel Kirui's silver and Wilson Kipsang's bronze.
Uganda competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation there marked its 13th appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of eleven track and field athletes that included Moses Ndiema Kipsiro, Benjamin Kiplagat, and Stephen Kiprotich, one each in badminton and weightlifting, and two swimmers. Ekiring, Ssekyaaya, Mugula, and Lunkuse had qualified through wildcard places, while the rest of the delegation satisfied the Games' qualification standards for their respective events. Mugula was selected as the team captain. Mugula was also selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. The country's best result at these Games was a gold medal for Kiproitch in the men's marathon, its first such medal since the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. He won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. Kamworor claimed victories at the World Half Marathon Championships three times in a row from 2014 to 2018. He took individual titles at the World Cross Country Championships in 2015 and 2017, and finished third in 2019. He won his first World Marathon Major at the 2017 New York City Marathon and regained his title in 2019, after a second-place finish in 2015. Kamworor also placed second at the 2023 London Marathon and earned three other podium finishes at a World Marathon Majors.
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.
Abraham Kiprotich is a Kenyan-French long-distance runner. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's marathon but did not finish.
Abraham Kiplimo is a Ugandan long-distance runner. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's 5000 metres, finishing 24th overall in Round 1, failing to qualify for the final. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics he failed to get past the heats of the 5000 m.
The men's marathon at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro took place on the Sambódromo on 21 August, the final day of the Games. One hundred fifty-five athletes from 79 nations competed. The event was won by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the nation's second victory in the event in three Games. Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia took silver, while Galen Rupp of the United States took bronze. The defending champion going into the marathon was Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich.
Hiroyuki Horibata is a Japanese long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. He holds a personal best of 2:08:24 hours for the event, set in 2012. He twice represented his country at the World Championships in Athletics, placing seventh in 2011 but failing to finish in 2013.
Fred Musobo is a Ugandan mountain runner.
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Felix Chemonges is an Ugandan long-distance runner.
John Akii-Bua, who had claimed Uganda's only other Olympic gold with a world record in the 400 metres hurdles in 1972