Hellen Obiri

The cheery young middle-distance runner Hellen Obiri is the current 5000m champion, having won gold in the 2017 World Championships and then successfully defending the title at the 2019 World Championships, for which she set a new championship record. She also holds the Kenyan National Record for the mile, 3000m, and 5000m events. She was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2017.

Obiri was born in Kenya and began running from an early age. She started to represent her country in 2011 at the World Championships in South Korea, in the 1500m event. But it was the following year at the World Indoor Championships when she shot to fame, taking gold in the 3000m with a time of 8:37.16 mins. She attended the 2012 London Olympics, but her next victories came at the IAAF World Relays in 2014, when she took gold in the 4 x 1500m, and then in the African Championships when she won the 1500m in a time of 4:09.53 mins. She took a silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 5000m, and then won the event at the 2017 World Championships. 2018 saw her take two more gold medals in the 5000m events, at the Commonwealth Games, and at the African Championships. She won gold again in the 5000m event at the World Championships in 2019, with a record time of 14:26.72 mins. She was also victorious in the women’s senior race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championship in Denmark, winning the 10.2 km race in a time of 36:14 mins.

Obiri occasionally connects with her dedicated followers through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, posting about her life both on and off the track.