14/08/2024
Hellen Obiri
Hellen Onsando Obiri
Born 13 December 1989(35YRS )
From Kisii in South-Western Kenya
She is the fourth child in a family of six children
she was recruited as a 200 and 400 metres sprinter At age 14yrs to to attend Riruta Central Secondary School in Nairobi.
Lost interest in the sport and stopped running altogether in 2006 and 2007 to focus on her studies.
Re-engaged with athletics to join the military. In 2009,
graduated from Kenya Defence Forces Recruit Training School in Eldoret. Her first major race was at the 2010 Kenya Armed Forces F Cross Country Championships, where she finished 32nd. She placed fifth after some training the following year.
In 2011 gained her first international experience at the 2011 Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she won the bronze medal for the 800 metres and placed fourth in the 1500 metres.
She debuted in the World Championships in Athletics held in 2011 in Daegu, South Korea the following month, competing at the latter distance. Set a personal best time of 4:07.59 in the heats but fell in the final, bringing pre-event favourite Morgan Uceny down with her, and finished 10th.Came back to Kenya and started training seriously.
At the of 22-year-old,in 2012 took her first global title at the Istanbul World Indoor Championships, clocking 8:37.16 over the 3000 metres. This became the turning point of her career.
In the same yr She debuted in the Olympics at the London Games, finishing initially 12th and last in the 1500 m final, upgraded to eighth after subsequent doping disqualifications
On 1 June 2013, she won her first Diamond League race with 1500 m victory in USA's Eugene, setting a new personal best and meet record of 3:58.58
She earned bronze in the event at the World Championships in Athletics held in August in Moscow same yr
At the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, behind multiple world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba she earned the silver medal in the 3000 m
at the Doha Diamond League, on 9 May2014 she set an African record in the outdoor event with a time of 8:20.68, improving her personal best by more than 13 seconds.
In August,2024 she added 1500 m title at the African Championships.
2016 Rio Olympics, she competed in the 5000 metres and earned the silver medal in a time of 14:29.77, behind compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot in an Olympic record of 14:26.17 and ahead of Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana who ran 14:33.59.
2017 she represented Kenya at the World Championships in London in the same event and won the gold medal with a time of 14:34.86, ahead of Ayana and Sifan Hassan
2018 saw her take two more gold medals in the 5000 m events, at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and at the African Championships.
n March 2019, Obiri won the senior women's race at the World Cross Country Championship held in Aarhus, Denmark, beating on a 10.2 km course second-placed Dera Dida by two seconds with a time of 36:14. After she posted best female times of the year in the 5000 metres in 2017 and 2018, Obiri successfully defended her title at the Doha World Championships in October, setting a championship record of 14:26.72 in the process. Her compatriot Margaret Kipkemboi (14:27.49) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (14:28.43) finished second and third, respectively.
2020 she represented Kenya at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in both the women's 5000 m and 10,000 m events. She won the silver medal at the former in a time of 14:38.36, finishing behind only Hassan who ran 14:36.79; Gudaf Tsegay took bronze in 14:38.87.Obiri placed fourth in the 10,000 m final in a personal best
2022 At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Obiri came second in the 10,000 m. She was beaten to gold by Gidey in a close finish (the top 3 were only separated by 0.13 s)
She capped her fine 2022 season (64:22 PB at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February; wins at Istanbul Half Marathon, Great Manchester Run and Great North Run) in November debuting in the marathon at the New York City Marathon, where she placed sixth.
2023 She got her 2023 campaign off to strong start. In February, she won the RAK Half and then the New York City Half Marathon in March.
On 17 April, the 33-year-old ran her second marathon, competing in the Boston Marathon against the deepest elite women’s field ever assembled. She won with a personal best time of 2:21:38, 12 seconds clear of second-place finisher Amane Beriso who had by far the fastest personal best heading into the race (2:14:58).
She went on to win the 2023 New York City Marathon in a time of 2:25:49.
2024 participate in Boston Marathon Boston, MA, United States place 1st time record 2:22:27
Olympic Games Paris, France Marathon placed 3rd record 2:23:10
She is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country.
she is a two-time Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres.
She is a two-time world champion after winning the 5,000 m in 2017 and again in 2019, when she set a new
is the former Kenyan national record holder for the mile and the 5000 metres. Both those records were only recently broken by Faith Kipyegon(had written her story earlier this week ) on her way to setting the current mile World Record of 4:07.64 set in Monaco on 21 July 2023.
She was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2017
She is married to Tom Nyaundi, a former runner, and they have a daughter, Tania 'Blessing' Macheche, born in May 2015 through caesarean section.
Coached by Dathan Ritzenhein (2022–)
Ricky Simms (–2022)
Hellen Obiri is the 2,329th most famous person globally, down from 1,961st in 2022
Net worth: $5 million
