Lornah Kiplagat (born 1 May 1974) is a Dutch long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Kenya[1] and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has run for the Netherlands since.[2] She specialises not only in road running but also runs track and field. She currently holds the world record at the 5000 meters on the road, 10 Mile, 20,000 meters on the road, and half marathon.
Running career
Kiplagat was already running decent results when she still ran for Kenya. She was the first woman to win both the Falmouth Road Race and the Peachtree Road Race. As of 2006 she is still the only woman to achieve this, but she achieved it three times in a row (2000, 2001 and 2002) and a fourth time in 2005 as well.[3]Among her other achievements are the Amsterdam Marathon, the Rotterdam Marathon, the Osaka Marathon and the Los Angeles Marathon[2]
In 1999 Kiplagat moved to the Netherlands; four years later she gained Dutch citizenship which allowed her to run for the Netherlands as of 2003. That same year she lowered the Dutch marathon record to 2:23.43 during the New York City Marathon. She also participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she finished 5th in the 10,000m.
2005 was a successful year for Kiplagat. She won a silver medal at the 1/2 Marathon World Championships. Later in Tilburg at the European cross-country Championships, she won the gold medal and the European title. On January 7, 2006 she was chosen as Dutch athlete of the year 2005. At the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she finished second in Japan, winning the silver medal. She also finished 5th in the 10,000m at the 2006 European Athletics Championships.
She won the 2007 World Cross Country Championships held in Mombasa, Kenya. Earlier, in February 2007, she competed at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships as an invited athlete and won the women's race, ahead of the elite among her former compatriots.[4]In winning these championships, she beat off the entire Ethiopian challenge, of defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba, the previous short course champion Gelete Burika, and double bronze medalist from 2006, Meselech Melkamu. They finished: Dibaba, 2nd, Melkamu, 3rd, Burka, 4th.
Besides the Dutch marathon record, Kiplagat also owns four World records. In the 5000 meter road race she ran the distance in 14:47, while she lowered her own record in the 10 miles of 50.54 by two seconds to 50.50 during the 2006 Dam tot Damloop,[5]which she also won in 2002. On 14 October 2007, Kiplagat set a new half-marathon world record of 1:06:25 at the World Road Running Championships at Udine, Italy, while defending the title she first won in 2006. She also smashed her own 20km world record en route, running 1:02:57. However, Paula Radcliffe has run a faster half-marathon on the slightly downhill Great North Run course in 2003.[1]
Her cousins include Sylvia Kibet, Hilda Kibet and Susan Sirma.[6][7]
Achievements
- Los Angeles Marathon (1997, 1998)
- Amsterdam Marathon (1999)
- City-Pier-City Loop (2000)
- 20 van Alphen (2001)
- Osaka Marathon (2002)
- Peachtree Road Race (2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006)
- Falmouth Road Race (2000, 2001, 2002, 2005)
- Egmond Half Marathon (2003)
- 2004 Summer Olympics 10,000m (5th)
- 2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, Edmonton (silver)
- 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships, Debrecen (gold)
- 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships, Udine (gold)
- 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Fukuoka (long race) (silver)
- 2005 European Cross Country Championships, Tilburg (gold)
- Dam tot Damloop (2000, 2002, 2006)
- Beach to Beacon (2005)
- World's Best 10K (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
- Steamboat Classic (2006)
- Montferland Run (2008)
- Tilburg Ten Miles (1997, 2000, 2004)
- 10 km road race in Glasgow (5 times)
Personal bests
- 5 K road: 14:47 (world record)
- 10 K road: 30:32
- 10 Mile: 50:50 (world record)
- 20 K road: 62:57 (world record)
- Half Marathon: 66:25 (world record)
- Marathon: 2:22:22
References
- ^ Knippen, Marco (2008) Lornah Kiplagat - Het meisje van de nacht Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl ISBN 978 90 5429 262 3
- ^ a b Lornah @ Lornah.com, lornah.com
- ^ Lornah Kiplagat and the High Altitude Training Center, pbs.org
- ^ Kenyan Cross Country Championships report IAAF.com
- ^ Wereldrecord voor Kiplagat in Zaandam, nu.nl, September 17, 2006
- ^ Running Times Magazine, May 2006: Lornah - Inventing Herself and a Better World
- ^ Daily Nation, August 9 2008: Ex-Kenyans seek to outshine ex-country mates in Olympics
External links
Netherlands
Elana Meyer
