SallyKipyego

She later discovered she was four weeks pregnant at the time.

In 2017, Kipyego both became a U.S. citizen and gave birth to her daughter, Emma. Kipyego worked her way back to the roads after giving birth to record a nearly three-minute personal best at the 2019 Berlin Marathon and then clock a 2:28.52 at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to claim the third and final spot on the U.S. Olympic marathon team. She finished in 17th place at the Tokyo Olympic marathon. On the track, Kipyego made her first IAAF World Championships team in 2011, representing Kenya in the 10,000 meters and earning a silver medal. The 2011 race provided a preview of the London 2012 Olympics, where Kipyego also earned silver in the 10,000 meters. She completed a distance double, running the 5,000 meters where she finished in fourth place.

Kipyego has also had tremendous success in New York in addition to the marathon; in 2010, she finished third in 4:32.30 at the NYRR Millrose Games Fred Lebow Mile. In the years that followed, Kipyego had three top-five finishes in New York including a runner-up finish in the 2011 5th Avenue Mile. In 2014, she made her half-marathon debut on the streets of New York, capturing the NYC Half title and setting an event record of 1:08:31. Kipyego’s New York record-breaking continued in 2015 when she placed first at the NYRR Millrose Games 3000 meters in a meet record time of 8:41.72

Kipyego attended Texas Tech, where she was a nine-time NCAA All-American and eight-time NCAA champion, tied for the most in NCAA history. Kipyego was the first Kenyan woman to capture an NCAA cross country individual championship and the only woman in Division I history to capture three consecutive NCCA cross country titles. She spent the pandemic training in Kenya and with her daughter and husband. In her home district there, the Shoe4Africa Sally Kipyego School established in 2013 was named in her honor.

Race History