Elgeyo Marakwet is popularly known as the Home of Champions due to the large number of top Kenyan athletes who hail from the county but who are the biggest names?
Kenya’s Rift Valley is the undisputed hotbed of athletics talent in the country, if not in the world.
This has seen the three most prominent counties of Usain Gishu, Nandi and Elgeyo Marakwet coin names for themselves aimed at marketing and displaying their prowess at producing world beating athletes.
Usain Gishu’s main town Eldoret is now known as the ‘City of Champions’, Nandi christened the ‘Source of Champions’ while Elgeyo Marakwet calls itself the ‘Home of Champions.’
Pulse Sports highlights some of the top athletics talents produced by the ‘Home of Champions’ Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Home of Champions: 5 top Kenyan athletes who hail from Elgeyo Marakwet County
Kelvin Kiptum
The late Kelvin Kiptum is the marathon world record holder. Photo/Imago
Now deceased, Kelvin Kiptum would perhaps have become the first man to run an official marathon under two hours, and may be an Olympics champion by now, but the cruel hand of death robbed Kenya of a generational talent that had made history in just three marathons.
Kiptum set the marathon world record in Chicago in October 2023, running 2:00:35, that coming after winning the London Marathon in 2:01:25, the second fastest at the time, and on his debut in Valencia in 2022, he ran 2:01:53, the fourth fastest of all-time then.
Born in Chepsamo in the district of Keiyo, Kiptum had planned to run the Rotterdam Marathon in under two hours but a road accident claimed his life and that of his coach on February 11, 2024 when he was just 24 but he had already put Elgeyo Marakwet on the global map.
Ezekiel Kemboi
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Ezekiel Kemboi was revered in 3,000m steeplechase. Image/Imago
Now retired, few exemplified Kenya’s dominance in the 3,000m steeplechase than Ezekiel Kemboi.
Popularly known as ‘Baba Yao,’ Kemboi was box office on the track and off it with his eye-catching hairstyles and dance moves complementing his athletics prowess.
Born in Matira near Kapsowar in Marakwet District on May 25, 1982, Kemboi won four world titles, three silver medals, two Olympics gold and a Commonwealth title during his illustrious athletics career.
Vivian Cheruiyot
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Vivian Cheruiyot out to defy age as she chases marathon dream
Image source: Imago
Kenya’s own ‘Pocket Rocket’ is still going strong despite being in the game for 27 years as she has seamlessly transitioned into marathons.
A four-time world champion in both 5,000m and 10,000m, Vivian Cheruiyot started out in cross-country, where she has three world titles, and has since also won Olympics gold in 5,000m, two silvers and bronze, Commonwealth and African titles.
Though now she lives in Eldoret, Vivian Cheruiyot was born in Keiyo on September 11, 1983 and has transitioned to marathons where she has won in Frankfurt and London, finished second in the English capital, besides second and third places in New York.
Brigid Kosgei
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Brigid Kosgei has won two London Marathon titles.
Former world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei is another prominent name from Elgeyo Marakwet who has flown Kenya’s flag.
At just 30, Kosgei, who comes from Kapsowar, has five major marathon wins, two in London and Chicago, one in Tokyo, besides victories in Porto, Milano and Honolulu marathons as well as Olympics silver in marathon from the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
Kosgei set a new marathon world record of 2:14:04 in Chicago in October 2019, beating the previous world record by 81 seconds, although that mark has since been broken by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, who ran 2:11:56 in Berlin in 2023, before Kenya’s Ruth Chepng’etich lowered it to 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024.
Wilson Kipsang
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Wilson Kipsang won five major marathons and broke a world record but was later suspended. Photo/Imago
Another Keiyo native, Wilson Kipsang won five major marathon races being in London twice, Berlin, New York and Tokyo besides three second place finishes and Olympics bronze in London 2012.
Kipsang is also a former marathon world record holder, having lowered Patrick Makau’s mark by 15 seconds, when he ran 2:03:23 to win in Berlin in 2013.
However, his image was tainted when he was handed a four-year ban for Whereabouts Failures and Tampering or Attempted Tampering of samples by the Athletics Integrity Unit in June 2020.
