Vivian Cheruiyot, a personal memory

This is Stuart Weir’s feature on Vivian Cheruiyot, who missed the Athens 2004 Olympics after competing in Sydney 2000, then Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. At the age of 40, she just took 3rd at the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris in 2:21.46. Vivian’s last marathon was at Valencia in December 2019, where she ran 2:18.52 for 4th. 

Vivian Cheruiyot, a personal memory

Vivian Cheruiyot finished third in the Paris Marathon in 2:21:46 at the age of 40, running her first Marathon in five years. I first met Vivian in 2011 in Daegu at the World Championships and have kept in touch with her.

In that 2011 World Championship, she won the 5k and the 10k, adding to her 2007 and 2009 5K world titles. She missed the 2013 World Championship following the birth of her son, Allan, but returned to win the 10k in Beijing in 2015. She won medals in both the 5k and the 10k at two Olympics (2012 and 2016). She then concentrated on the Marathon, winning London in 2018. Her daughter Arielle was born in 2021.

As I said, I first met her in 2011 in Daegu, Korea. I remember clearly the circumstances.  I was in the main press center, and there was an announcement that some athletes were about to plant a tree.  My work must have been rather dull as I decided to go along.  There was Vivian and her husband, Moses.  We talked.  I was immediately struck by how friendly they both were.  She agreed to do an interview with me after she had run the 5000m and 10000m.  She won both.

I spoke to her at the winners’ press conference and discovered that she was leaving the next morning, so there would be no time for an interview—and an easy get-out. Not Vivian. She had made a promise and would keep it. “I can’t do the interview tomorrow, but I can do it now!” she said.

I had the pleasure of seeing her win silver and bronze in London in 2012.  Then, she took a career break to have her son, Allan, in 2013.  By 2015, she was World Champion again, winning the 10000m in Beijing – the third World Championship in which I had seen her win a medal.  She said of the challenge of running after…