Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei was born on February 20th, 1994, in Elgeyo Marakwet, a region in the Kenyan Rift Valley known to produce some of the world’s top runners. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathon races, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons, and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon race. The Kenyan woman is the current marathon world record holder for women running in a mixed-sex race, with two hours, fourteen minutes, and four seconds (2:14:04). This she achieved on October 13th19, at the Chicago Marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Brigid Kogei’s Early Years
Kosgei was one of seven children raised by a single mother. At seventeen, she began running. She trained with her boyfriend, now her husband, Matthew Kosgei. Like some other Kenyan athletes before her, Brigid Kosgei discovered she could run while in primary school when she jogged to class in the morning.
She says, “My school was 10km from home, and sometimes to avoid getting late; I would run. On my way, I met athletes who were training and said to myself: ‘I can be like them”.
Career Launch and Growth
In 2015 she joined a training camp not far from her home, run by her coach, Eric Kimaiyo. In eight of the first nine marathons she ran, Brigid Kosgei ended the race in the top two. She came second at the 2016 Lisbon Marathon behind Sarah Chepchirchir, in a personal best time of two hours, twenty-four minutes, and forty-five seconds (2:24:45). Her time was faster than the former course record.
A year later, in 2017, Brigid Kosgei won the Bogotá Half Marathon and again came third in the Copenhagen Half Marathon.
She placed second in the 2017 Chicago Marathon at a personal best time of two hours, twenty minutes, and twenty-two seconds (2:20:22). Her position was the sixth-fastest ever at the Chicago Marathon.
She won the Honolulu Marathon some weeks later, beating the course record by over five minutes!
In 2018, Kosgei placed second in the London Marathon behind Vivian Cheruiyot. Though she injured herself during the Bogotá Marathon, Kosgei decided to run the Great North Run to practice ahead of the 2018 Chicago Marathon. She eventually finished the event in second place, behind Cheruiyot. Later, she won the Chicago Marathon after breaking away from a group of two other Kenyans and three Ethiopians after 30–35 kilometres (19–22 mi) of the race. She set the best time of two hours, eighteen minutes, and thirty-five seconds (2:18:35). In 2018, Kosgei also won a cross-country event in Eldoret, Kenya, and the Kalya Half Marathon in Kapenguria, Kenya.
Brigid Kosgei’s Winnings
Kosgei won the 2019 London Marathon, making her the youngest woman to win the event. This was the third-best time in London after Paula Radcliffe in 2005 with two hours, seventeen minutes and forty-two seconds (2:17:42). Also, Mary Keitany 2017 with the world record of two hours, seventeen minutes and one second (2:17:01).
In the 2019 Great North Run, Kosgei won in a course record time of one hour, four minutes, and twenty-eight seconds (01:04.28).
This was twenty-three seconds faster than the previous half marathon world record set by Joyciline Jepkosgei.
She won the 2019 Chicago Marathon on OctobOctober 13thworld record time of two hours, fourteen minutes, and four seconds (02:14:04). This was a significant improvement of her personal best by more than 4 minutes. She beat the previous world record by an eighth of a second and was over six minutes ahead of second-place Ababel Yeshaneh. Later in the year, she won a 15 km Saint Silvester Road Race in forty-eight minutes, and fifty-four seconds (48:54).
Brigid Kosgei’s Challenges
In February 2020, Brigid Kosgei placed second to Yeshaneh at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. Kosgei’stime of one hour, four minutes, and forty-nine seconds (1:04:49), two seconds better than the previous world record set by both Kosgei and Yeshaneh’s.
After 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of the race was only one second slower Yeshaneh’s best time set in a track 10,000m event in 2019. Later in the year, Kosgei won the 2020 London Marathon which was rescheduled by over three minutes. She broke away from the pack 18 miles (29 km) into the race and stayed ahead for the rest. She finished in two hours, eighteen minutes, and fifty-eight seconds (2:18.58).
Brigid was chosen to lead the Kenyan women’s marathon squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan before its postponement. The other athletes selected for the team were Cheruiyot anwomen’sChepng’etich. In February 2021, She was confirmed in the Kenyan marathon team for the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics, alongside Chepng’etich and Peres Jepchirchir. It was her first appearance at the Olympics. She finished second behind Jepchirchir. Later Chepng’etich she came fourth at the 2021 London Marathon. Her latest win is in the Tokyo Marathon held on Sunday March the 6th 2022. The world record holder in the women’s marathon, Brigid Kosgei, ran two hours, sixteen minutes, and two seconds. This is the third fastest time ever by a female in the marathon.
PRESENT LIFE
Brigid Kosgei is also still stacking up wins. She has now won Chicago twice, London, and Tokyo once, giving her five World Marathon Majors wins (in the WMM era) and an Olympic silver. She also has six sub-2:19 marathoners. Kosgei accounts for fifteen per cent of all sub-2:19s ever run before.
Being an elite athlete requires discipline. Brigid stands at 5ft 7inches and weighs 50 kilograms. She keeps her weight low through a healthy diet and food typical to many Kenyans. Avocado and other local fruits and chapati for breakfast are some of her favourite things to eat.
