Peruth Chemutai (born July 10, 1999) is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

runner. She won the gold medal in the women's

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 ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, becoming the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic medal. She added a silver medal in this event at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Chemutai is the Ugandan record holder for the 3000 m steeplechase and 5 kilometres road race.

Career

Hailing from the

Bukwo District Bukwo District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Bukwo is its main political, administrative, and commercial center and the site of the district headquarters. Location Bukwo District is bordered by Amudat District to the ...

, she took up running in 2013 after attending the District Athletics Championships in Bukwo as a casual fan. At the

2015 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the V Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Samoa 2015, was the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games which started in the year 2000. It was held from 5 to 11 September, 2015 in Apia, the ...

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, she won silver medals in 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 ...

and

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

. In 2016, the 17-year-old finished in seventh place in the final of the women's 3000 m steeplechase event at the

2016 IAAF World U20 Championships The 2016 World U20 Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 1997) which was held at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 19–24 J ...

held in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Poland. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, her time of 9:31.03 in the heats did not qualify her for the final. She also competed in the junior women's race at the

2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was hosted in the city of Kampala, Uganda's capital. This 42nd edition was held on 26 March 2017. The venue was Kampala Airport, commonly known as Kololo airstrip, or officially, the Kololo Ceremon ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, finishing in seventh place. At the 2018 World U20 Championships held in mid-July, she claimed a notable silver medal in the 3000 m steeplechase. A week later, at the Monaco Diamond League, she set a national record with a time of 9:07.94. In 2019, she competed in the senior women's race at the

2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were hosted in the city of Aarhus in Denmark. It was the 43rd edition of the championships and was held on 30 March 2019. A part of the course was run on the grounds and grass roof of the Moesgaard ...

held in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark. She finished in 5th place. At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Chemutai competed in the 3000 m steeplechase. She beat pre-race favorites such as

Beatrice Chepkoech Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik (born 6 July 1991) is a Kenyan Long-distance running, long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won gold medals at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, 2019 World Championships and 20 ...

and Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi to finish with a time of 9:01.45, a national record, and win the gold medal. Chemutai became the first Ugandan woman ever to win an Olympic medal in any sport. In 2024, Peruth won the 3000m steeplechase 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 ...

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 ...

in a time of 8:55.09, beating her own national record and running under the 9-minute barrier for the first time, her time moved her up to 6th on the all-time top lists. Peruth won the silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the

, finishing behind Winfred Yavi in a new Ugandan national record of 8:53.34.

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chemutai, Peruth 1999 births Living people Ugandan female steeplechase runners Ugandan female cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic female steeplechase runners Olympic gold medalists for Uganda Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Uganda People from Bukwo District Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Ugandan sportswomen Athletes from Eastern Region, Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games African Games silver medalists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Uganda Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2023 African Games