James Kwalia C'Kurui (born James Kwalia Chepkurui on 12 June 1984) is an athlete who represents

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

after switching from his homeland

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Specializing in the

3000 3000 or 3000s usually refers to: * 3000 (number), the decimal number * 3000 AD/CE, the first year of the 31st century * 3000 BC(E), a year in the 3rd millennium BC * 3000s AD/CE, a decade, century, millennium in the 4th millennium * 3000s BC(E), ...

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

, his personal best times are 7:28.28 minutes and 12:54.58 minutes respectively. He was born in Trans Nzoia. He is the current holder of the Asian indoor record over 5000 m which he broke in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in February 2009.

Biography

He had his first success while competing for Kenya when he won the bronze medal in the 3000 m at the

2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the second edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics, World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Debrecen, Hungary 12–15 July 2001. Results Boys Girls Medal ta ...

. His first senior medal came at the

2004 IAAF World Athletics Final The 2nd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 18, and September 19, 2004. The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco sta ...

, where he took the 3000 m silver. He transferred to represent

following this and was very successful in Asian competitions, winning at the

2005 Asian Athletics Championships The 2005 Asian Athletics Championships were the 16th edition of the international athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held in Incheon, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East As ...

and the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

. He represented

Qatar at the Olympics Qatar has competed in 10 Summer Olympic Games. They have never competed in the Winter Olympic Games. Their first ever Olympic gold medal was won by Fares El-Bakh in weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics, followed by a gold medal for Mutaz Es ...

for the first time with an appearance at the 2008 Beijing Games – he finished eighth in the 5000 m. He improved at the next major competition, taking the bronze medal at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

. A streak of wins at Asian championships followed: he set a new Games record in the 3000 m at the

2009 Asian Indoor Games The 2009 Asian Indoor Games (), officially the 3rd Asian Indoor Games () and also known as Vietnam 2009, were a pancontinential indoor multi-sport event held in Vietnam from 30 October till 8 November 2009. This was the last edition of the event ...

, won the 5000 m title at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men Track Field Women Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * ...

for a second time and won his first indoor title soon after at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. From the beginning of his career, he was coached by the Italian Renato Canova, under the management of Gianni Demadonna. He is from Kaptama in

Mount Elgon District Mount Elgon District (Mt. Elgon District) was an districts of Kenya, administrative district in the Western Province (Kenya), Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsokwony. In 2010, it was merged into Bungoma County. Geography and de ...

. Prominent runner Edith Masai is from the same area.The Standard, October 14, 2008: Komon the mountain legion

International competitions

Circuit performances

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwalia, James 1984 births Living people People from Mount Elgon District Qatari male middle-distance runners Qatari male long-distance runners Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Qatari male cross country runners Kenyan male cross country runners Olympic athletes for Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Qatar Asian Games silver medalists for Qatar Asian Games athletes for Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Qatar World Athletics Championships medalists Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Indoor Athletics Championships winners Qatari people of Kenyan descent Naturalized citizens of Qatar Naturalised athletes Arab Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen 21st-century Qatari sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)