Edith Masai

Edith Masai ( Masai Edith Chewanjel or Edith Masai Chewangel; born April 4, 1967 in Chepkoya at Kapsakwony, Bungoma District, Western Province ) is a Kenyan long-distance runner.

She started with athletics in school when they started over 800 m and 1500 m. After school, she was accepted into the team of Kenyan prison service because of their athletic achievements, but still put the birth of her son in 1990 back their ambitions. Only after her divorce in 1999 she returned to the high-performance sports. First she started at Cross races in Kenya and came in summer 2000 for some time to Germany, where she was taken by the athletes Manager Dorothee Paulmann under the wing and also attended with good results in cross races.

In 2001 she qualified in Kenya in the elimination race for the World Cross Country Championships and won the bronze medal at this. This year, she also had her first start on the tartan track. She was Kenyan champion in the 5000 m. At meetings in Europe who still unknown runner then caused a sensation when she hit about 5000 m, the Romanian Gabriela Szabo Olympic champion at the Golden League meeting in Oslo. At the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton in 2001, she launched still weak from a malaria infection and was seventh in the 5000m.

In the following years 2002, 2003 and 2004, she was World Cross Country champion in the sprint, and won the bronze medal over 5000 m at the 2003 World Championships in Paris / Saint- Denis. At the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, she qualified for the finals in the 5000m, but did not finish this race.

In 2005, she renounced because of a sprained ankle to a title defense at the Cross Country World Cup. Instead, they switched to the marathon route and won her debut at the Hamburg Marathon in 2:27:06 h At the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, she was fifth in the 10,000 m. In 2006 she won the Berlin Half Marathon with a course record of 1:07:16 h and Africa champion in the 10,000 m. In 2007, she was eighth in the marathon at the World Championships in Osaka. In 2008 she won the Singapore Marathon, in which she was previously came second in the year.

Among her many successes in road races include victories at the Kassel City Run 2001, at Trier Silvesterlauf 2002 at Tilburg Ladies Run 10K and the Swiss Women's Run 2006.

Edith Masai is 1.68 m tall, weighs 55 kg and lives in Nairobi. From their prize money she purchased a farm, which is managed by her mother.

Personal Best

  • 3000 m: 8:23,23 min, July 19, 2002 Monaco
  • 5000 m: 14:33,84 min, June 2, 2006, Oslo
  • 10,000 m: 30:30,26 min, August 6, 2005, Helsinki
  • 10 - km road race: 31:13 min, March 31, 2002 La Courneuve
  • Half Marathon: 1:07:16 h, April 2, 2006, Berlin
  • Marathon: 2:27:06 h, April 24, 2005 Hamburg
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