Viola Kibiwot
Introduction '''Viola Jelagat Kibiwot''' (born 22 December 1983 in Keiyo District) is a runner from Kenya who specialises in the 1500 metres.Kibiwot won her first international medal as a junior runner at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she took the bronze medal for Kenya. Consecutive world junior cross country titles followed at the 2001 and 2002 editions of the event, and she also claimed the gold medal over 1500 m at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics.After becoming a senior runner, she struggled to match her junior success. She was outside of the top twenty in the senior short race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and again at the 2005 race. She was seventh on the track at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but appeared to make her breakthrough over 1500 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics with a fifth-place finish in a personal best time of 4:02.10 minutes in the final. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, coming fourth.She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but failed to build upon her progress on the global stage and did not advance beyond heats. At the 2009 World Championships she did not get past semi-finals stage. Kibiwoot ran on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit, but never made the top three in the event. She came seventh in the 1500 m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Kibiwot won her first senior continental medal at the 2011 African Cross Country Championships, taking the silver medal behind Mercy Cherono and helping Kenya to the team title.She was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1500 m at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. She changed her focus to longer distances as a result and performed better on the world stage, taking sixth at the 2012 Olympic 5000 m final and fourth at the 2013 World Championships 5000 m final. At the 2013 World Cross Country Championships she helped Kenya to the team title with her seventh-place finish. An outing over four miles on the roads in October 2013 saw her run the world best for the distance, as she completed the 4 mijl van Groningen race in 19:20 minutes.
Achievements Representing 2000World Cross Country Championships Vilamoura, Portugal 3rdJunior race (6.29 km)20:362001World Cross Country Championships Ostend, Belgium 1stJunior race (5.9 km)22:05African Junior ChampionshipsRéduit, Mauritius 4th800 m 2:10.25 4th1500 m4:26.272002World Cross Country Championships Dublin, Ireland 1stJunior race (5.962 km)20:13World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st1500 m4:12.572003World Cross Country Championships Lausanne, Switzerland 22ndShort race (4.03 km)13:282005World Cross Country Championships Saint-Étienne, France 23rdShort race (4.196 km)14:102006Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 7th1500 m4:08.742007World Championships Osaka, Japan 5th1500 m4:02.10World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 4th 1500 m4:06.002008Olympic GamesBeijing, China5th (heats)1500 m4:15.622009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany8th (semis)1500 m4:06.882010Commonwealth GamesNew Delhi, India7th1500 m4:08.792011African Cross Country ChampionshipsCape Town, South Africa2ndSenior 8 km27:14 2011World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea7th (semis)1500 m4:08.64 2012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom6th5000 m15:11.59 2013World Cross Country ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland7thSenior race (8 km)24:46 2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia4th5000 m15:01.672015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China4th5000 m14:46.16	=== Personal bests ===* 1500 metres - 4:02.10 min (2007)* 3000 metres - 8:40.14 min (2003)* Two miles -  9:12.59 (2014)* 5000 metres - 14:33.48 min (2013)
References
External links * * Global Sports Communication profile