Milcah Chemos Cheywa (born 24 February 1986 in Bugaa,

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 ...

) is a runner from

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. ...

who specialises in

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually Abbreviation, abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 met ...

. She was, until 2015, African record holder at the distance and is the gold medalist of the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

Early life

She is from Bugaa village, but moved to

Kitale Kitale is a town in the north west of Kenya, in the former Rift Valley province, between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills. It has an elevation of around . Its population was as of 2019. It is the location of Kitale Airport. The National ...

with her family, where she went to Matumbei and St Phillips primary schools. Later she went to St Claire's Girls High School in

Maragoli The Maragoli, or Logoli (''Ava-Logooli''), are now the second-largest ethnic group of the 6 million Luhya nation in Kenya, numbering around 2.1 million, or 15% of the Luhya people according to the last Kenyan census. Their language is calle ...

.Daily Nation, 25 August 2009
Milcah, fresh from New KCC
Retrieved 17 August 2009. After schooling she went to the Kenya Police College (KPC) in

Kiganjo Kiganjo is a small town in Kenya's Nyeri county. It hosts the Kenya Police College which is Kenya's main college for police training. Kiganjo also hosts one of the Kenya Cooperative Creameries KCC (now New KCC) and a milk depot for the Brookside ...

in 2005. There she met Alex Sang and soon married. He urged her to start running, but she did not start serious training until 2008. Initially racing over 800 and 1500 metres, she finished 7th in the 800 metres at the 2008 Kenyan Olympic trials, 12 seconds behind the winner

Pamela Jelimo Pamela Jelimo (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold ...

.The Standard, 13 August 2009: Introducing Milka

Career

2009

Chemos converted to steeplechase running in March 2009, after being introduced to the discipline by

Richard Mateelong Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (born 14 October 1983) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metre steeplechase. He won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he has two World Cham ...

, the Olympic steeplechase medalist posted at KPC. She won her debut race, at the

Athletics Kenya Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) in Kenya. It is a member of World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan tea ...

meeting in

Kakamega Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579 (2019 census). The town has an urban population of 107,227 (2019 census). Kakamega ...

, timing 9:54.4, and soon improved her PB to 9:22.33 at the

KBC Night of Athletics The KBC Night of Athletics () is an annual athletics event at the Stadium De Veen in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. It is officially presented and sponsored by the KBC Bank KBC Group N.V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing ...

meeting in

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total area is 53.23 ...

, Belgium. Competing in the 2009 World Championships, she won a bronze medal in a personal best 9:08.57, behind

Marta Domínguez Marta Domínguez Azpeleta (born 3 November 1975) is a Spanish former runner and politician. She competes mainly in the steeplechase. She has represented Spain four times at the Olympics and has competed at the World Championships on six occ ...

and

Yuliya Zarudneva Yuliya Mikhailovna Zaripova (, née Ivanova (), divorced Zarudneva (); born 26 April 1986 in Svetly Yar, Svetloyarsky District, Volgograd Oblast, Svetly Yar, Volgograd Oblast) is a Russian former disgraced middle-distance runner who specialised ...

. Dominguez was disqualified afterward for a doping violation.

2010

In 2010, Chemos won gold medals in the 3000 metre steeplechase at the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between Africa, African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports club, sports clubs. List of championships ;Athletics * African ...

and the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, heading a Kenyan clean sweep of the medals in the latter. She also took

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

victories in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, en route to capturing the overall Diamond League title in the steeplechase. As a result of her successes during the 2010 season, Chemos was one of five females shortlisted for the

IAAF World Athlete of the Year The World Athletics Awards are annual awards to honor athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics. These are organised by World Athletics and include track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. Th ...

award, won by high jumper

Blanka Vlašić Blanka Vlašić (; born 8 November 1983) is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. She is a double world champion, an indoor world champion and twice Olympic medallist. Vlašić's personal best of is a Cr ...

2011

Chemos entered the 2011 World Championships in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

as favourite for the 3000 metres steeplechase, having won all five of the

races in which she had competed prior to the championship. However, she was unable to improve upon her bronze medal of two years previous, finishing in third place, over 10 seconds behind race winner

Yuliya Zaripova Yuliya Mikhailovna Zaripova (, née Ivanova (), divorced Zarudneva (); born 26 April 1986 in Svetly Yar, Volgograd Oblast) is a Russian former disgraced middle-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres steeplechase event. Career Zarip ...

. Chemos subsequently lost again to Zaripova at the final Diamond League meeting of the season – the

Memorial Van Damme The 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. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

in Brussels – but the Kenyan had already established an unbeatable lead in the Diamond Race standings and thus retained her title.

2012

At the start of 2012, Chemos ran at the

Cross de San Sebastián The Cross Internacional de San Sebastián, also known as the ''Cross Internacional de Donostia'', is an annual cross country running event which is staged in late January in San Sebastián, Spain. The competition was first held in 1956 as a men's ...

and was the runner-up behind Nazareth Weldu. She began the

2012 IAAF Diamond League The 2012 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2012 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the third edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 11 May in Doha, Q ...

season in dominant fashion, winning the steeplechase in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Eugene and Oslo. At the third of these victories, Chemos broke the African 3000 metre steeplechase record of

Eunice Jepkorir Eunice Jepkorir Kertich (born 17 February 1982) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase. She was the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the event and bronze medalist at t ...

, winning in a new personal best and Bislett Games record time of 9:07.14. In 2013, she won women's 3000m Steeplechase at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

, clocking in 9:36.16.

Personal life

Her husband Alex Sang is a middle-distance runner. They have a daughter as of 2010. Like Milcah, running siblings

Linet Masai Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletic ...

and

Moses Masai Moses Ndiema Masai (born 1 June 1986 in Kapsogom, Mount Elgon District) is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres. Masai is from Bugaa village, four kilometres from Kapsokwony town. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cherop ...

are from Bugaa village.

International competitions

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chemos, Milcah 1986 births Living people People from Western Province (Kenya) Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists Diamond League winners World Athletics Championships winners Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics