Linet Masai
Encyclopedia
Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

.

Masai became the world junior cross country champion in 2007 and set a world junior record for the 10,000 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

, placing fourth in the final. She was the runner-up at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 three times consecutively from 2009 to 2011. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....

, she won her second world track medal, taking third in the 10,000 m.

Biography

Masai was born in Kapsokwony
Kapsokwony
Kapsokwony is a small town in Mount Elgon District of Western Province , Kenya. The town is part of Mount Elgon County Council and Mount Elgon Constituency....

 town, Mount Elgon District
Mount Elgon District
Mount Elgon District is an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kapsokwony.-Geography and demographics:The district is located on southeastern slopes of Mount Elgon...

, and was raised in from Bugaa village, four kilometres away. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cherop, she is the fourth born out of ten children. She went to Kapsagom Primary School and then Bishop Okiring Secondary school from where she graduated in 2005. She started running in 2005, when her older brother Moses Ndiema Masai
Moses Ndiema Masai
Moses Ndiema Masai is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres.Masai is from Bugaa village, four kilometres to Kapsokwony town. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cherop, he is the first born out of ten children. He started running while at Kapsogom Primary School. Later he joined ...

 won 5000 and 10000 metres at the African Junior Championships, hoping she would emulate his success. Her younger siblings Dennis, Ndiema and Magdaline are also runners. Their father John Barasa Masai is also a former runner, while Ben Jipcho
Ben Jipcho
Ben Jipcho is a former athlete from Kenya, who won the silver medal in the 3000 meters steeplechase at the 1972 Summer Olympics, behind his teammate Kipchoge Keino.Jipcho won the 5000 meters race in the 1973 All-Africa Games...

 is their distant uncle. She is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in Kaptagat
Kaptagat
Kaptagat is a village near 40 kilometres east of Eldoret along the B54 Road in the Rift Valley Province, Kenya. It is located near the edge of the Great Rift Valley just to the southeast of the village of Chepkorio.. Administratively, it is a location in Ainabkoi division of Uasin Gishu District....

.

Career

She won the women's junior race at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in Mombasa, Kenya on 24 March, 2007. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...

 held in Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. She finished fourth at the Kenyan trials for the 2007 World Championships
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...

 5000 metres race, missing the ticket to Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. She did, however, compete at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...

, achieving two fourth places (3000 and 5000 metres).

Her breakthrough year came in 2008. In the spring she won the bronze medal in the senior race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships
2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in the Holyrood Park at Edinburgh, Scotland on 30 March 2008. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...

. In the summer she competed at the Olympic Games
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...

, finishing fourth in the 10,000 metres
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 10000 metres
The following new Olympic record was set during this competition.Both Tirunesh Dibaba and Elvan Abeylegesse completed the race in a time under the old Olympic record, recording the second and third fastest ever women's 10,000 metre times, making Dibaba the new Olympic record holder.-Results:-Splits:...

 in a new world junior record of 30:26.50 minutes. The previous record (30:31.55) was set by Huina Xing of China in 2003. It was also a new Kenyan record
Kenyan records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Kenya maintained by Athletics Kenya .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceA = affected by altitude# = not officially ratifiedOT = oversized track-External links:*...

, the previous record (30:30.26) was held by Edith Masai
Edith Masai
Edith Chewangel Masai is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country and track races, then road races in her late career. She represented Kenya at the 2004 Summer Olympics.. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-11-07...

 and was set in 2005. Masai's national record stood for less than a year, seince in June 2009 Florence Kiplagat posted 30:11.53 in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, the Netherlands 

In August 2009, Masai narrowly defeated Meselech Melkamu
Meselech Melkamu
Meselech Melkamu is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and cross-country events...

 of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 in the final of the 10,000 metres at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics held in Berlin, Germany. The reigning 10000 metres Olympic and word champion Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion...

 was sidelined due to injury. She was also awarded the Race Results Weekly Female Runner of the Year award and the Kenyan Sportswoman of the Year
Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year
Kenyan Sport Personality of the Year Awards, also known as SOYA Awards, are annual national awards given for sports personalities and organisations in Kenya. The awards were initiated in 2004 by Paul Tergat. The awards for each year are held at the beginning of the next year Kenyan Sport...

 award in 2009.

She began the build up to her 2010 World Cross Country
2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in 1987. Kenyan runners dominated the competition, taking...

 campaign with wins at the Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio
Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio
The Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Llodio in the Basque Country, Spain around late November. The event was first held in February 1985 and changed to an end-of-year competition soon after, holding its second edition in December...

 and Cross Internacional de Soria
Cross Internacional de Soria
The Cross Internacional de Soria, also known as the Campo a Través Internacional de Soria, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Soria, Spain. First held in 1994, it usually takes place in late November and gained IAAF cross country permit meeting status in 2007...

, beating the rest of the field by some distance both times. A win at the Cross Internacional de Itálica
Cross Internacional de Itálica
The Cross Internacional de Itálica is an annual cross country running competition that is held every January in Santiponce, near Seville, Spain. Inaugurated in 1982, the race course is set in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Itálica...

 shortly after demonstrated her dominance of the Spanish circuit that year. At the 2010 World Cross Country Championships, she started strongly and began to build up a lead in the final lap. However, Emily Chebet
Emily Chebet
Emily Chebet is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres and cross country running...

 overtook her with a sprint finish to the race, leaving Masai as the runner-up for the second time in as many years.

Later on that year she made her debut at the NYRR New York Mini 10K – her first competition on American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soil. Masai outran Emily Chebet in the road running
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 event to take the victory in a time of 30:48. In August she signed up for the Women's 5K Challenge in London and comfortably beat Sylvia Kibet
Sylvia Kibet
Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet is an Kenyan long-distance runner. She was the silver medallist at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in the 5000 metres...

 to win the race, reversing their positions from the previous year's competition. She entered the 10,000 m at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics
2010 African Championships in Athletics
The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010.-Background:The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time...

 but Tirunesh Dibaba defended her title while the Kenyan left with a bronze medal. At the Memorial van Damme
Memorial Van Damme
Memorial van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium that takes place in late August or early September...

 (the final for the 2010 IAAF Diamond League
2010 IAAF Diamond League
The 2010 IAAF Diamond League was the first edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium....

) she finished third as compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot
Vivian Cheruiyot
Vivian Cheruiyot is an athlete from Kenya who specialises in long distance running. She represented Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics...

 took the inaugural event title.

She opened her cross country season with a win at the Cross de l'Acier
Cross de l'Acier
The Cross de l'Acier is an annual cross country running competition that is held in late November in Leffrinckoucke, France. First held in 1990, it is one of the foremost competitions of its type in France. Ten races are held at the event for athletes of varying abilities...

 in November. She was the women's winner at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country in January 2011, but had to settle for second at the Cross de Itálica behind Cheruiyot. She defeated Cheruiyot to win at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships and set her eyes on the world title, saying that she remained bitter about not winning at the two previous competitions. History repeated itself for a third time for Masai at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in Punta Umbría, Spain on 20 March 2011.-Preparation:The United States had expressed an interest in hosting the competition, but Punta Umbria was chosen as the host at the IAAF Council Meeting in November 2009...

 as she led early on but was pushed into second place by a Kenyan rival yet again in the form of a quick-finishing Cheruiyot. She repeated as New York Mini champion in June with half a minute to spare over runner-up Aheza Kiros
Aheza Kiros
Aheza Kiros is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres.She finished fourth at the 2006 African Championships and seventeenth at the 2007 World Championships. Running at the 2009 Adidas Track Classic, she beat Ejegayehu Dibaba in the 5000 metres in her first career...

.

On the 2011 IAAF Diamond League circuit she placed in the top three in Shanghai, Eugene, and the final in Zürich, but was someway behind Vivian Cheruiyot, who defended her 5000 m title. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....

, Masai entered both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events. Her attempted defence over the longer distance was thwarted by Cheruiyot: Masai was beaten into third place in a sprint finish, although this was part of a dominant Kenyan team which took the top four places. She was amid the leading pack in the 5000 m but was again outsprinted in the final stretch, leaving her in sixth place.

Her cross country season began well at the Cross de Atapuerca
Cross de Atapuerca
The Cross Internacional de Atapuerca is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Atapuerca, Spain. Established in 2004, it takes place in early November and is among the first major competitions of the cross country season...

, where she won by 22 seconds.

Achievements

2007 World Cross Country Championships
2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in Mombasa, Kenya on 24 March, 2007. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...

Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

1st Junior race
World Athletics Final
2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...

Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

4th 3000 m
4th 5000 m
2008 World Cross Country Championships
2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in the Holyrood Park at Edinburgh, Scotland on 30 March 2008. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...

Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

3rd Senior race
2nd Team competition
Olympic Games
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...

Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China
4th 10,000 m
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 10000 metres
The following new Olympic record was set during this competition.Both Tirunesh Dibaba and Elvan Abeylegesse completed the race in a time under the old Olympic record, recording the second and third fastest ever women's 10,000 metre times, making Dibaba the new Olympic record holder.-Results:-Splits:...

World Athletics Final
2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008.A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting points around the Stuttgart area and the distances varied...

Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

5th 3000 m
4th 5000 m
2009 World Cross Country Championships
2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in the Al Bisharat Golf Course at Amman, Jordan on 28 March 2009. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...

Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...

, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

2nd Long race
1st Team
World Championships
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

1st 10,000 m
2010 World Cross Country Championships
2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in 1987. Kenyan runners dominated the competition, taking...

Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd Senior race
1st Team
2011 World Cross Country Championships
2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in Punta Umbría, Spain on 20 March 2011.-Preparation:The United States had expressed an interest in hosting the competition, but Punta Umbria was chosen as the host at the IAAF Council Meeting in November 2009...

Punta Umbría
Punta Umbría
Punta Umbría is a town and municipality in the province of Huelva, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia.The Punta in its name comes from the long point going out to the sea from the beach....

, Spain
2nd Senior race
1st Team
World Championships in Athletics
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....

Daegu
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...

, Korea
6th 5000 m
2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 5000 metres
The Women's 5000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 30, and September 2.Vivian Cheruiyot entered the competition as the reigning 2009 World Champion, the 2011 World Cross Country Champion, the Diamond League leader, and the fastest woman of...

3rd 10,000 m
2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 10,000 metres
The Women's 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27.Kenya entered a strong team including the 2009 champion Linet Masai, the reigning 5000 metres world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, and Sally Kipyego – the fastest 10,000 m runner that...


Personal bests

  • 3000 metres
    3000 metres
    The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...

     - 8:38.97 min (2007)
  • 5000 metres
    5000 metres
    The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

     - 14:31.14 min (2010)
  • 10,000 metres - 30:26.50 min (2008)
  • 10 kilometres - 30:48 min (2010)

External links

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