Agnes Jebet Tirop

Agnes Jebet Tirop
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Kenya
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
2015 Guiyang Senior race
2015 Guiyang Senior team

Agnes Jebet Tirop (born 23 October 1995) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who mainly competes in the 5000 metres and cross country running. At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women's race after Zola Budd. She was a medallist at junior level at the World Cross Country and World Junior Championships in Athletics. She was also the junior champion at the African Cross Country Championships in 2014. She holds a 5000 m best of 14:50.36 minutes.

Career

Tirop first rose to prominence at national level in 2012, when she was runner-up to world junior champion Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships.[1] This led to her first national selection and international medal at the 2012 African Cross Country Championships; she was again runner-up to Kipyegon and took the junior silver medal.[2] She was Kenya's most prominent entrant for the 5000 metres at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics and finished with a bronze medal in a personal best of 15:36.74 minutes behind Ethiopian opposition.[3][4]

Tirop was again second to Kipyegon at the 2013 Kenyan Cross Country Championships and teamwork between the pair led to a Kenyan 1–2 and team title at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Kipyegon defended her title while Tirop was a narrow second to claim her first medal at the competition.[5][6] She made progress on the track that year, setting personal bests of 8:39.13 minutes for the 3000 metres and 14:50.36 minutes for the 5000 metres, and also on the roads with a half marathon best of 71:57 minutes.[7]

In the 2014 season she finally emerged from Kipyegon's shadow. Tirop won the Kenyan cross country junior title and then dominated the junior race at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships, leading the Kenyans to victory by a 14-second margin (Kipyegon won both senior races).[8][9] She was unable to achieve such a margin over African runner-up Alemitu Heroye at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics and was again third in the 5000 m, while the Ethiopians extended Kenya's historic lack of a gold medal in that event.[10]

Tirop entered the senior ranks in the 2015 season and immediately performed well, winning the Eldoret Discovery Cross Country in Kenya.[11] She was second to Kipyegon at the Kenyan senior national championship race and earned a senior national selection – a performance which filled her with confidence: "I did not even believe I could make the team. I will not fear running against seniors."[12] For the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, after Kipyegon withdrew the reigning world champion Emily Chebet was seen as Kenya's leading athlete, and Tirop as a key team member.[13] Despite this being her senior international debut and the fourth youngest athlete in the field,[14] Tirop took to the front and gradually moved away from the field to win the senior gold medal some five seconds ahead of Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi. This made the 19-year-old the second-youngest winner of that title in championships history, after Zola Budd's win in 1985, and also brought her Kenya's 300th medal at the competition.[15] With Ethiopia rounding out the top four and defending champion Chebet in sixth, Kenya were beaten into second in the team race.[16]

Personal bests

All information from IAAF.[17]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2012 African Cross Country Championships Cape Town, South Africa 2nd Junior race
World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 3rd 5000 m 15:36.74
2013 World Cross Country Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd Junior race 17:51
1st Junior team
2014 African Cross Country Championships Kampala, Uganda 1st Junior race 18:51
1st Junior team
World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 3rd 5000 m 15:43.12
2015 World Cross Country Championships Guiyang, China 1st Senior race 26:01
2nd Senior team

References

  1. ↑ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2012-02-18). Karoki and Chepkirui steal the headlines in Nairobi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  2. ↑ Williamson, Norrie (2012-03-19). Langat and Chepkirui take African XC titles in Cape Town. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  3. ↑ Martin, David (2012-07-22). Gemili posts championship record on superb night in Barcelona – day two evening report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  4. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2012-07-11). Barcelona 2012 - Event Report - Women's 5000m Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  5. ↑ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2013-02-16).Rono and Muriuki win Kenyan World Cross Trials in Nairobi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  6. ↑ Bamford, Nicola (2013-03-24). Kipyegon majestic in title defence – Bydgoszcz 2013 junior women's report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  7. ↑ Agnes Jebet Tirop Progression. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  8. ↑ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2014-02-15). Karoki and Kipyegon win in Nairobi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  9. ↑ Kenya makes a clean sweep at African Cross Country Championships. IAAF (2014-03-16). Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  10. ↑ Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2014-07-24). Report: women's 5000m – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  11. ↑ Mills, Steven (2015-01-26). Emerging Tirop dominates in Eldoret – cross-country round-up. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  12. ↑ Mutuota, Mutwiri (2015-02-14). Karoki and Kipyegon successfully defend Kenyan cross-country titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  13. ↑ Sammet, Michelle (2015-03-24). Senior women's preview – IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Guiyang 2015. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  14. ↑ Results Senior Race Women. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  15. ↑ Sammet, Michelle (2015-03-28). Teenage talent Tirop triumphs in Guiyang. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  16. ↑ Whittington, Jessica (2015-03-28). Agnes Tirop wins senior women’s World Cross title in China. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.
  17. ↑ Agnes Jebet Tirop Personal bests. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-28.

External links

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