Vivian Cheruiyot in marathon action in New York (© Getty Images)
Twenty-six years after making her Olympic debut as a 17-year-old in Sydney, Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot returns to the Australian city, lining up in yet another world-class field.
A lot has changed in the two-and-a-half decades since the 2000 Games, but Cheruiyot’s dedication to the sport remains resolute. When the now 42-year-old takes to the start line at the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS on Sunday (30) she will do so as a four-time world track champion, an Olympic gold medallist, a world cross-country champion and a London Marathon winner. She returns as a mother, a Laureus award winner and one of athletics’ enduring greats. The occasion gives her cause for reflection.
“I look back on my career with pride,” she says. “I was able to win almost everything and have been at the top for a long time.
“I was running in a great era and had a close-up view of athletes like Usain Bolt setting the world alight. I had some great battles with the likes of (Tirunesh) Dibaba and (Meseret) Defar from Ethiopia, along with a lot of strong Kenyan women. I hope we inspired the next generation to train hard and achieve their dreams.”
Cheruiyot made her international debut in 1998 when she finished fifth in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships in Marrakech. She graduated to world U20 cross-country silver the following year and won the first of her many national senior titles in the 5000m before claiming bronze at both the World U18 Championships and the All-Africa Games later that year.
Aged 16, Cheruiyot became the world U20 cross-country champion. Her Olympic debut came later that year, and she qualified for the 5000m final at the Sydney 2000 Games just two weeks after her 17th birthday.
“I was very young when I ran at the Olympic Games in Sydney. It was a wonderful experience to go into the Olympic village and see so many people from so many countries,” she recalls. “I remember the stadium was amazing. I had never competed in front of so many people before.
“I was proud to make the 5000m final. I also remember the great 10,000m race between Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie.”
Women's 5000m action at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
More global U20 medals followed in 2002 before she made her transition to the senior age group. Cheruiyot completed her studies in 2006 and that was her first year of training full time and competing on the professional circuit. She capped her season by finishing third and fifth in the 3000m and 5000m, respectively, at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.
Then came her run of senior global championship medals – world 5000m silver in 2007, world 5000m gold in 2009, world indoor 3000m silver in 2010 and then world cross-country gold before a world 5000m and 10,000m title double in Daegu in 2011. The vest she wore in Daegu, which has been signed by Cheruiyot, is among the artefacts on display in the Museum of World Athletics. Cheruiyot remained undefeated in all major finals that year and in recognition of her achievements she was awarded the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year honour in 2012.
Her performance in Daegu saw her become only the second woman after Dibaba to do that golden distance double at the World Championships. “I am always trying to chase history,” said Cheruiyot when interviewed between the two finals.
Despite illness, Cheruiyot managed to claim 5000m silver and 10,000m bronze at the London 2012 Olympics – her final major medals before becoming a mother as she welcomed her son Allan in 2013.
After returning to competition in late 2014, Cheruiyot made a major impact the following season, winning the world 10,000m title in Beijing. Two more Olympic medals followed in Rio in 2016 as she got 10,000m silver and 5000m gold – the title missing from her collection.
“I said I want to win,” she said at the time, “and I went with everything.
“This was my fourth Olympics and I’ve been dreaming about this since the very start.”
Vivian Cheruiyot celebrates as she wins the 10,000m in Daegu (© Getty Images)
Cheruiyot then switched her attention to the roads and she finished fourth at the London Marathon on her debut at the distance in 2017. She won in London the following year – in 2:18:31, which placed her fourth on the world all-time list at the time and remains her PB – and then finished second in New York. She was also second in the 2019 London Marathon.
After the birth of her daughter Arielle in 2021, Cheruiyot made her competitive comeback in 2023. She was third in the New York City Marathon in 2024 and fifth in the 2025 London Marathon after a late call up. That was her most recent completed marathon race, as she was forced to drop out of the New York City Marathon later that year due to an achilles injury.
Cheruiyot travelled to Sydney from her base in Texas on Monday night. Now splitting her time between Kenya and the USA, she prepares for the next chapter in her illustrious story.
Vivian Cheruiyot’s major medal haul
2024 New York City Marathon bronze
2019 London Marathon silver
2018 London Marathon gold, New York City Marathon silver
2016 Olympic 5000m gold, 10,000m silver
2015 world 10,000m gold
2012 Olympic 5000m silver, 10,000m bronze
2011 world 5000m and 10,000m gold, world cross-country gold
2010 Commonwealth Games 5000m gold, African 5000m gold, world indoor 3000m silver
2009 world 5000m gold
2007 world 5000m silver
2002 world U20 5000m bronze, world cross-country bronze
2000 world U20 cross-country gold
1999 world U20 cross-country silver, world U18 3000m bronze, All-Africa Games 5000m bronze
In the World Athletics Platinum Label road race this weekend she will line up alongside her compatriots Peres Jepchirchir, the world champion in Tokyo last year, and Irine Cheptai, as well as Ethiopia’s Haven Hailu, Uganda’s Stella Chesang and Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri.
“I am very excited to go back to Sydney,” says Cheruiyot. “It has been 26 years since I was there, and a lot has changed in my life since then. I hope to have a good run – I have put in a lot of work to regain fitness and hope my body will stand up to the 42km.”
She has done so under the guidance of her coach and agent Ricky Simms.
“It has been a great pleasure to coach and manage Vivian for the past 20-plus years,” says Simms. “She is an extremely talented athlete with a great work ethic and determination. To be awarded ‘best sportswoman in the world’ by Laureus for her 2011 season was something she can be very proud of.
“Vivian competed primarily in the era pre 'super shoes and double thresholds' and set the standard for female athletes in Kenya.”
The standard continues to be set as Cheruiyot prepares to go full circle, back in the city where she made her Olympic debut 26 years ago.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
