Viola Kibiwot

Medal record
Women's athletics
Competitor for  Kenya
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Gold 2002 Dublin Junior race
Gold 2001 Oostende Junior race
Bronze 2000 Vilamoura Junior race
World Junior Championships
Gold 2002 Kingston 1500 m

Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (born December 22, 1983 in Keiyo District) is a runner form Kenya who specialises in 1500 metres.

Kibiwot won her first international medal as a junior runner at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she took the bronze medal for Kenya. Consecutive world junior cross country titles followed at the 2001 and 2002 editions of the event, and she also claimed the gold medal over 1500 m at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

After becoming a senior runner, she struggled to match her junior success. She was outside of the top twenty in the senior short race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and again at the 2005 race. She was seventh on the track at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but appeared to make her breakthrough over 1500 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics with a fifth place finish in a personal best time of 4:02.10 minutes in the final. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, coming fourth.

She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but failed to build upon her progress on the global stage and did not advance beyond heats.[1] At the 2009 World Championships she did not get past semi-finals stage. Kibiwoot ran on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit, but never made the top three in the event.[2] She came seventh in the 1500 m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Kibiwot won her first senior continental medal at the 2011 African Cross Country Championships, taking the silver medal behind Mercy Cherono and helping Kenya to the team title.[3]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Kenya
2000 World Cross Country Championships Vilamoura, Portugal 3rd Junior race
2001 World Cross Country Championships Oostende, Belgium 1st Junior race
African Junior Championships [4] Réduit, Mauritius 4th 800 m
4th 1500 m
2002 World Cross Country Championships Dublin, Ireland 1st Junior race
World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st 1500 m
2003 World Cross Country Championships Lausanne, Switzerland 22nd Short race
2005 World Cross Country Championships Saint-Étienne, France 23rd Short race
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 7th 1500 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 5th 1500 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 4th 1500 m
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 5th (heats) 1500 m
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 8th (semis) 1500 m
2010 Commonwealth Games New Delhi, India 7th 1500 m
2011 African Cross Country Championships Cape Town, South Africa 2nd Senior 8 km

Personal bests

References

  1. ^ Sports-reference profile
  2. ^ Viola KIBIWOT. IAAF Diamond League. Retrieved on 2011-03-07.
  3. ^ Ouma, Mark (2011-03-07). Cherono and Mwangangi victorious at inaugural Africa Cross Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-07.
  4. ^ WORLD JUNIOR ATHLETICS HISTORY ("WJAH") African Junior Championships 2001