Lucy Wangui Kabuu (born 24 March 1984) is a Kenyan

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who specializes in the

5000 5000 or ''variation'', may refer to: In general * A.D. 5000, the last year of the 5th millennium CE * 5000 BCE, a year in the 5th millennium BC * 5000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 6th millennium CE * 5000s BCE, a decade, century, mil ...

and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

events. She has represented Kenya twice at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events. She was based in Japan for her early career. Internationally, she was a team

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

list at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the In ...

in 2005 and was a double long-distance medallist at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

(where she was the 10,000 m champion and 5000 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

list). Since 2011 she has competed on the

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

and has won at the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

and the

Delhi Half Marathon Delhi Half Marathon, currently branded as the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is ...

. She made her

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

debut in 2012 and became the eighth fastest woman ever with a time of 2:19:34 hours for second place at the

Dubai Marathon The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by the emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 1998. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. History Initial era The inaugural Dubai Marat ...

. Wangui was issued with a two year competition ban in 2018 after failing a doping test at the

Milano City Marathon The Milano City Marathon is a marathon race held every April in Milan, Italy. It was first organised in 2000 by the Milano City Marathon Club and the first nine editions were held in November. History The 2009 edition of the race, initially set ...

at which she had initially been recorded in first place.

Career

She was born in 1984 in Ichamara in the Mukurweini/

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County and was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province (Kenya), Central Province. The town is situated a ...

region of central Kenya. Her potential for long-distance running was identified when she was at primary school. John Kanyi, a local runner who was based in Japan, encouraged her to try for an athletic scholarship to enable her to study and train there as well. She performed well in the scholarship selection races and, aged sixteen, won a place at Aomori Yamada High School. While in Japan, she won the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

at the high school championships and, after graduation in 2002, she commenced training with the

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

Track and Field Club. She signed with PACE Sports Management and is coached by Ricky Simms. Wangui set a Kenyan junior record for the 10,000 m in September 2003. She won the All-Japan Corporate Half Marathon title in Yamaguchi the following March. She came first in the

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 ...

at the 2004

Japanese Athletics Championships The is an annual outdoor track and field competition, organized by Japan Association of Athletics Federations. Currently it takes place in June or July. The competition is also for the qualifying trial for the Japanese national team of internatio ...

, competing as a guest. Following this she was the runner-up in the Kenyan Olympic trials over 10,000 m. Her first major international appearance came at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, where she finished ninth in the 10,000 metres event.Lucy Wangui
Sports Reference. Retrieved 27 November 2011. She ran over that distance at the Hyogo Relays meet and had three straight wins from 2005 to 2007. She finished tenth in 5000 metres at the

2005 World Athletics Final The 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 9, and September 10, 2005. The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary on September 3 as the Monaco stad ...

. Wangui made her international debut on grass that year at the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

, where her fifth-place finish in the short race made the Kenyan team a close second to Ethiopia in the team rankings. In March 2006 she won the women's 10,000 metres event at the

with a time of 31 minutes, 29.66 seconds. She also finished third in the 5000 metres. Towards the end of the season she finished tenth in 3000 metres at the

World Athletics Final The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...

. In November she was selected for the Kenyan women's team at the

International Chiba Ekiden The International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race, or ekiden as it is known in Japan, is one of the prominent annual races of its kind. The competition is s ...

. She was slower than Maria Konovalova on the final leg, but maintained Kenya's lead to win the women's title. The team's time of 2:13:35 hours was later ratified as an African record for the

ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competiti ...

marathon relay. Wangui began her 2008 season with a win at the

Chiba International Cross Country The Chiba International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Chiba, Japan, in mid-February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Ch ...

. At the

2008 African Championships in Athletics The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was ...

she finished fourth in 10,000 m behind a trio of Ethiopian's led by

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba (, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold meda ...

. At the national Olympic trials she won the 10,000 m and came second over 5000 m. Despite her wish to compete in both events, the Kenyan selectors instead chose her just for the 10,000 m, choosing

Vivian Cheruiyot Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She represented Kenya at the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning the silver medal i ...

for the shorter distance instead. In her second outing on the Olympic stage at the 2008 Beijing Games she finished seventh in the 10,000 metres, running a personal best time of 30:39.96 minutes. After a competitive break in 2009 and 2010, due to an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury then pregnancy, she returned to action on the

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

circuit. She had wins at the

half marathon and the

Great Edinburgh Run The Great Edinburgh Run was an annual ten-mile road running race in the city centre of Edinburgh in Scotland from 1993 to 2017. It was part of the Great Run series of competitions, a event which extended to from 2014. The race was first run i ...

10K in September and October. She then travelled to the

and won in a personal best of 1:07:04 hours ahead of fellow Kenyan

Sharon Cherop Sharon Jemutai Cherop (born 16 March 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won a bronze medal at the age of sixteen in the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winne ...

. She made her debut over the

distance in January 2012 at the

. In one of the fastest races ever at that point, she completed the race in 2:19:34 hours to take second place just three seconds behind defending champion

Aselefech Mergia Aselefech Mergia Medessa ( Oromo: ''Asallafach Margaa Mardaasaa''; Amharic: አሰለፈች መርጊያ; born 23 January 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. She was a bronze medallist in the event at the 2009 ...

. This was among the fastest ever debuts by a woman and ranked her eighth in the all-time lists. She placed fifth at the

2012 London Marathon The 2012 London Marathon was the 32nd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 22 April. Both of the elite races were won by Kenyan athletes, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede was the only non-Kenyan to re ...

in April, but missed out on the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as she failed to finish in the 10,000 m trial race at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

. In her third marathon of the year, she reached the podium with a third-place finish at the

2012 Chicago Marathon The 2012 Chicago Marathon was the 35th edition of the annual marathon race in Chicago, Illinois and was held on Sunday, October 7. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the fourth and final World Marathon Majors event to be held that year. Tsegaye ...

. She won the 2013

Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record o ...

with a new personal best of 1:06:09, just 19 seconds off Mary Keitany's world record. Kabuu ran the third fastest ever time over 25 kilometres to win the

BIG 25 Berlin The S 25 Berlin () is an annual road running competition over 25 kilometres that takes place in Berlin, Germany in early May. The competition was created in 1981 by the French Forces in Berlin stationed in West Berlin and was titled the "25 ...

in May, crossing the line in 1:21:37 hours. She was selected for the Kenyan marathon team at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

but performed poorly in Moscow, finishing 24th in a time of 2:44:06 hours. He last outing that year was a third-place finish at the

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wangui, Lucy 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Nyeri County Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games athletes for Kenya Kenyan female cross country runners Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Kenyan sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics