Gladys Cherono

Who is Gladys Cherono?

Gladys Cherono Kiprono is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in track and road running events. She became the first woman to win both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres at the African Championships in 2012.

She started running in Spanish road races in 2004. She set a personal best of 71:19 minutes to win the 2005 Media Maratón Santa Pola and also won at the Granollers Half Marathon. She continued to compete at low level races and was runner-up at the 2007 Reims Half Marathon. She won that race the following year and improved her best at the Porto Half Marathon, running 70:43 minutes for third. She bettered that time at the 2009 Valladolid Half Marathon, taking the title with a run of 69:26 minutes, and was runner-up at the Porto race. She made few competitive appearances over the following 18 months, but won the Zhuhai Half Marathon on her Asian debut in December 2011.

Cherono broke into the elite ranks in 2012. She was third at both the RAK Half Marathon and the Prague Half Marathon, recording a best of 68:18 minutes at the latter race. She also progressed on the track, taking the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres titles at the Kenyan Armed Forces Championships. She was chosen to run these events at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics and, in the absence of higher profile athletes, she became the first woman to win both distance races at the championships. Her run of 15:40.04 minutes for the 5000 m gold medal was a championship record. She was not chosen to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics and instead went on to win at the Bogotá Half Marathon and Tilburg 10K.