Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (born 7 July 1985) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has also been successful in cross country running, having won the silver at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships as well as team gold with Kenya in 2007 and 2009.

Moses Mosop
Mosop during Prague International Marathon in 2014
Personal information
Full nameMoses Cheruiyot Mosop (Kimosop)[1]
Born (1985-07-07) 7 July 1985 (age 39)[2]
Kamasia, Marakwet District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya[2]
Height152 cm (5 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight50 kg (110 lb)[1]
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Kenya Kenya
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Helsinki 10,000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Mombasa Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Amman Team
Silver medal – second place 2007 Mombasa Individual
Updated on 16 June 2015

Until 30 September 2014, Mosop was managed by Jos Hermens and coached by Renato Canova. At the 2011 Boston Marathon, Mosop and countryman Geoffrey Mutai ran what at the time were the fastest times ever recorded for a marathon – 2:03:06 and 2:03:02, respectively – bettering the Boston course record by nearly three minutes.[3]

Career

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Early running

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Born in Kamasia, Marakwet District, Mosop started running while at primary school and later went to Marakwet High School. He qualified for the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Belfast, where he finished tenth in the junior race. It was in this occasion that he joined the management of the Italian Gianni Demadonna, and started to be coached by Renato Canova, that developed his talent from the youth category up to the current international level.

At the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne he fared slightly better, finishing 7th in the junior race. At the 2003 All-Africa Games, he was fifth in men's 10,000 metres. He made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics and was seventh overall in the 10,000 metres final. Mosop also won the Giro Podistico di Pettinengo 9.6 km race in 2004.[4]

He was the winner of the Almond Blossom Cross Country in March 2005 and placed 18th at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships soon after. Competing in the 10,000 metres in the 2005 World Championships, he won the bronze medal, setting a personal best of 27:08.96 minutes. He occasionally runs the 3000 and 5000 metres and holds personal bests of 7:36 min and 12:54 min in those events.

He headed further up the podium at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He finished second in the senior race and took the team gold with Kenya. He took back-to-back wins at the Giro al Sas 10K race in 2007 and 2008.[5] In March 2009 he won the Cross di Alà dei Sardi in Sardinia.[6] He returned to world competition two years later, but he could not repeat his medal form at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships (finishing in eleventh place), although he still won team gold with Kenya.

Mosop won the men's race at the 2010 Stramilano Half Marathon, clocking 59:20 for the win over Silas Kipruto. His coach stated that Mosop was progressing as a road runner and might make a move to the marathon distance.[7] Attempting to defend his title at the Giro Media Blenio 10K (which he won in 2009), he finished second in a sprint finish just behind Imane Merga.[8] He was chosen for the Kenyan team at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and he finished in tenth place.[9] At the Zevenheuvelenloop 15K race, he was off the pace and finished sixth – almost two minutes behind Leonard Patrick Komon who set a world record.[10]

2011: Marathon debut and world records

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His first race of 2011 was the Paris Half Marathon, where he finished second behind Stephen Kibet.[11] On 2011-04-18, he ran his marathon debut at the Boston Marathon, coming second in a time of 2:03:06. He and fellow countryman Geoffrey Mutai ran what at the time were the fastest times ever recorded for a marathon, shattering the time of the then existing world record (2:03:59 by Haile Gebrselassie) by nearly one minute, and the Boston course record by nearly three minutes. Helped by ideal cool temperatures and a strong tailwind on the point-to-point course, the lead pack reached the halfway mark on record pace of 1:01:54. The two Kenyans broke away from the pack at 30 kilometres and ran stride-for-stride over the last 12 kilometres until a sprint in the final straight-away by Mutai gave him the victory by four seconds, 2:03:02 to 2:03:06.[12]

Because Boston is a point-to-point course, with an overall downhill slope, the times were not officially recognised. The IAAF rules essentially require marathon records to be established on a loop course (thereby neutralising the impact of wind and course elevation changes). The previous record at Boston was 2:05:52, set in 2010 by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot who was the first to break 2:06 at Boston, while the current world record (yet to be ratified) is 2:02:57, run by Dennis Kimetto at Berlin in 2014.

As part of the 2011 Prefontaine Classic, Mosop was selected in an attempt to break the world record for the infrequently contested 30,000 m on the track. He shattered Toshihiko Seko's thirty-year-old world record by over two and a half minutes, running a time of 1:26:47.4 hours. He also smashed Seko's 25,000 m record by a minute and a half, passing the 25K intermediate mark at 1:12:25.4 hours.[13] He stepped down in distance to run at the B.A.A. 10K in June and took third place on the podium.[14]

2011-10-09, Mosop won the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:05:37, beating Sammy Wanjiru's course record by four seconds. At the start of 2012, he was sixth at the Paris Half Marathon in preparation for the Rotterdam Marathon the following month.[15] He was the pre-race favourite and attempted to break the marathon world record, but fell behind Yemane Tsegay and Getu Feleke, eventually finishing with a time of 2:05:03 hours.[16] Nevertheless, he was selected for the Kenyan Olympic marathon team, but a tendon injury forced him to withdraw and he was replaced by Emmanuel Mutai.[17]

Personal life

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In 2005 Mosop was reported to be married with Rose Cheruiyot (not the runner of the same name) with one daughter.[18] By 2010 he was married to fellow runner Florence Kiplagat, with whom he has daughter Aisha.[19] His brothers Elias Mosop and Philemon Mosop are also runners.

Personal bests

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Event Time (h:m:s) Venue Date
5000 m 12:54.46 Saint-Denis, France 8 July 2006
10,000 m 26:49.55 Hengelo, Netherlands 26 May 2007
Half marathon 59:20 Milan, Italy 21 March 2010
25,000 m 1:12:25.4 WR Eugene, USA 3 June 2011
30,000 m 1:26:47.4 WR Eugene, USA 3 June 2011
Marathon* 2:03:06 Boston, USA 18 April 2011
Marathon 2:05:03 Rotterdam, Netherlands 15 April 2012

(*) Downhill and point-to-point course

  • All information taken from IAAF profile.

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2002 World Cross Country Championships Dublin, Ireland 10th Junior race
2003 World Cross Country Championships Lausanne, Switzerland 7th Junior race
All-Africa Games Abuja, Nigeria 5th 10,000 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 7th 10,000 m
2005 World Cross Country Championships St Etienne, France 18th Long race
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 10,000 m
2007 World Cross Country Championships Mombasa, Kenya 2nd Long race
1st Team
2009 World Cross Country Championships Amman, Jordan 11th Long race
1st Team

Marathons

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Year Competition Venue Position Notes
2011 Boston Marathon Boston, United States 2nd 2:03.06 second fastest time ever (unratified)
2011 Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States 1st 2:05.37 course record
2012 Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam, Netherlands 3rd 2:05.03
2013 Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States 8th 2:11.19
2015 Xiamen International Marathon Xiamen, People's Republic of China 1st 2:06.19
2016 Yellow River Estuary International Marathon Dongying, People's Republic of China 3rd 2:09.33

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Moses Mosop". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Moses Cheruiyot MOSOP". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  3. ^ Boston Examiner newspaper on-line, 18 April 2011; "Boston Marathon Men's Results 2011: Kenya's Mutai Wins World's Fastest-Time"; accessed 18 April 2011.
  4. ^ IAAF website, 18 October 2004: Mosop beats World Half Marathon medallists in Pettinengo
  5. ^ Malcolm Heyworth et al (12 October 2010). Giro al Sas 10 km. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 16 April 2011.
  6. ^ Civai, Franco (16 March 2010). Cross di Alà dei Sardi. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 16 April 2011.
  7. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (22 March 2010). Mosop clocks 59:20 in Milan Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 22 March 2010.
  8. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (6 April 2010). Merga cruises to Dongio 10Km win. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 April 2010.
  9. ^ Results Half Marathon – Men. IAAF (2010). Retrieved on 23 October 2010.
  10. ^ van Hemert, Wim (21 November 2010). Komon breaks World 15Km record in Nijmegen – UPDATED. IAAF. Retrieved on 27 November 2010.
  11. ^ Monti, David (6 March 2011). Course Record for Arusei in Paris Half Marathon. All-Athletics. Retrieved on 16 April 2011.
  12. ^ Boston Examiner newspaper on-line, 18 April 2011; "Boston Marathon Men's Results 2011: Kenya's Mutai Wins World's Fastest Time"; accessed 18 April 2011.
  13. ^ Martin, Dave (4 June 2011). Mosop rips apart World records for 25,000 and 30,000m in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League. IAAF. Retrieved on 5 June 2011.
  14. ^ Mutai sizzles 27:19 in Boston 10Km. IAAF (26 June 2011). Retrieved on 2 July 2011.
  15. ^ Semi-Marathon 2012 Results. Paris HM. Retrieved on 22 April 2012.
  16. ^ van Hemert, Wim (15 April 2012). Spectacular double Ethiopian success brings home 2:04 and 2:18 victories in Rotterdam. IAAF. Retrieved on 22 April 2012.
  17. ^ Mutwiri, Mutuota (12 June 2012). Mutai added to Kenyan Olympic Marathon squad, Rudisha to Relay Archived 15 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 June 2012.
  18. ^ IAAF, 14 March 2005: Focus on Africa – Moses Mosop (KEN)
  19. ^ IAAF, 25 March 2009: A runner by default, Kiplagat now targets the ultimate prize – Amman 2009
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