{{short description|Ugandan long-distance runner}} {{Distinguish|Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Stephen Kiprotich | image = Stephen Kiprotich - Paris Half Marathon 2014 - b7543.jpg | image_size = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.--> | caption = Kiprotich at the Paris Half Marathon in 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|02|27|df=yes}} | birth_place = Kapchorwa District, Uganda | height = {{height|precision=0|m=1.72}} (2012) | weight = {{convert|56|kg}} (2012) | country = Uganda | sport = Athletics | event = Long-distance running | team = NN Running Team | pb = {{ubl | '''Marathon''': 2:06:33 (Tokyo 2015) | '''10,000 m''': 27:58.03 (Birmingham 2010) |'''5000 m''': 13:23.70 (Hengelo 2008) }} | olympics= {{ubl |'''2012 London''' |Marathon, {{gold medal}} }} | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's athletics}} {{Medal|Country|{{UGA}}}} {{Medal|Competition|Olympic Games}} {{Medal|Gold|2012 London|Marathon}} {{Medal|Competition|World Championships}} {{Medal|Gold|2013 Moscow|Marathon}} {{MedalCompetition|World Marathon Majors}} {{MedalSilver| 2015 Tokyo | Marathon}} | show-medals = yes }}
'''Stephen Kiprotich''' ("KIP-roh-tich", born 27 February 1989) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is an Olympic marathon champion, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Kiprotich also won a gold at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. After Ethiopia's Gezahegne Abera, he is the second person to follow an Olympic marathon title with a world championship gold medal for the same event.
Kiprotich became 2012 Olympic champion with a winning time of 2:08:01 in hot, sunny, and humid conditions.<ref name="L2012" /><ref name="NYT" /> This was the first Olympic medal for Uganda since 1996, the first Olympic gold medal for the country since 1972, and the country's first-ever medal in the marathon.<ref name="Miami" /> He won the Moscow IAAF Championship marathon on 17 August 2013.
==Biography== Kiprotich is the youngest of seven children of subsistence farmers from Kapchorwa District, near the Uganda-Kenya border. As a child, he missed three years of elementary school due to an undiagnosed illness. From 2004 to 2006, he quit athletics to concentrate on school.<ref name="monitor" /> Then, at the age of 17, he quit school and moved to the Eldoret region of Kenya, in the Rift Valley, to train for the marathon with Eliud Kipchoge. He was assisted by A Running Start, a non-profit foundation based in New York.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Guardian" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/OLY12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=67565 |title=Kiprotich strikes historic gold |date=12 August 2012 |publisher=IAAF |access-date=15 August 2012}}</ref>
Kiprotich ran a personal best in the marathon of 2:07:20 in 2011 at the Enschede Marathon in the Netherlands, which set a new course record for the Enschede Marathon and a new Ugandan record.<ref name="Westfaelische" /> He finished third in the 2012 Tokyo Marathon with a time of 2:07:50.<ref name="Tokyo" />
Kiprotich was inspired in part by John Akii-Bua, the only previous Ugandan Olympic gold medallist, who won the 400 metres hurdles at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany setting a new world record in the process.<ref name="brown" /> He then went on to win the London 2012 Olympic Marathon, ahead of Kenyan runners Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, who finished second and third, respectively.
In 2012, Kiprotich won the Nile Special-Uspa Sports Personality of the Year award, the Ugandan sports award.<ref name="Monitor" />
In 2013, he won the IAAF Moscow 2013 Marathon in 2:09:51 to grab the gold medal.
The following year, Kiprotich took part and completed the New York City Marathon in 2:13:25.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kiprotich finishes fifth at New York Marathon |url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/661398-kiprotich-finishes-fifth-at-new-york-marathon.html |access-date=2 November 2014 |work=The New Vision |publisher=New Vision}}</ref> Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich was the winner in 2:10.59.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bump Propels Kenyan to Men's Title |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/03/sports/new-york-marathon-2014-wilson-kipsang-a-kenyan-wins-on-late-sprint.html?_r=0 |access-date=2 November 2014 |work=The New York Times | date=2 November 2014 | last1=Zinser | first1=Lynn }}</ref> In February 2015, he ran a new personal best in the marathon of 2:06:33 in finishing second at the Tokyo Marathon.<ref name=tokyo2015>[http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/uganda/stephen-kiprotich-223768#personal-bests personal best] IAAF</ref>
In 2015, Kiprotich appeared in Jayant Maru's film SIPI the movie, a Ugandan produced film.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cinemaredpill.com/trailer/sipi-movie-official-teaser/ |title=Sipi – Cinema Red Pill |access-date=14 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071423/http://cinemaredpill.com/trailer/sipi-movie-official-teaser/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
In 2016, Stephen Kiprotich ran in his second Olympic marathon at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games; Kiprotich, the defending champion, finished 14th in 2:13:32 in a race won by Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge.
In 2017, he represented Uganda at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda. Kiprotich finished 17th in a race won by Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor. He went on to finish second in both the Hamburg Marathon and Fukuoka Marathon, clocking 2:07:31 and 2:07:10, respectively.
The following year, he competed in the Hamburg Marathon and Toronto Waterfront Marathon, finishing off of the podium in fifth and seventh, respectively.
In 2019, Kiprotich was third in the Hamburg Marathon in 2:08:31 and represented Uganda in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar. Stephen finished 18th in 2:15:04 in a race won by Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa.
Kiprotich's next marathon was in April 2021 when he finished fifth at the NN Mission Marathon in Enschede, Netherlands in a time of 2:09:04. He was the first Ugandan to finish, beating Geoffrey Kusuro and Ugandan national record holder Felix Chemonges.
Stephen Kiprotich was selected for the Ugandan team in the men's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 May 2021 |location=Uganda |title=OLYMPICS: Kiprotich picked for Uganda marathon team |url=https://www.independent.co.ug/olympics-stephen-kiprotich-picked-for-uganda-marathon-team/ |website=The Independent}}</ref> He is expected to compete in August 2021 alongside teammates, Fred Musobo and Felix Chemonges.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephen KIPROTICH {{!}} Profile {{!}} World Athletics |url=https://worldathletics.org/athletes/uganda/stephen-kiprotich-14229607 |website=worldathletics.org}}</ref>
Kiprotich is a member of the NN Running Team and trains in Kapchorwa, Uganda.
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="L2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.london2012.com/athlete/kiprotich-stephen-1043727// |title=Stephen Kiprotich |publisher=London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games |work=london2012.com |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/sports/olympics/ugandan-kiprotich-surges-past-2-kenyans-to-win-marathon-gold.html |author=Longman, Jeré |title=Ugandan Kiprotich Surges Past 2 Kenyans to Win Marathon Gold |date=12 August 2012 |work=The New York Times |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Miami">{{cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/12/2947920/kiprotich-wins-marathon-for-uganda.html |title=Kiprotich wins marathon for Uganda |work=Miami Herald|access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="monitor">{{cite web |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/Sports/Athletics/Kiprotich+doesn+t+regret+dumping+school+for+athletics/-/690274/1479738/-/4xweu4/-/index.html |title=Kiprotich doesn't regret dumping school for athletics |first=Sande |last=Bashaija |publisher=Daily Monitor |date=2007-05-31 |access-date=2012-08-15}}</ref>
<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/aug/12/stephen-kiprotich-olympic-marathon |title=Stephen Kiprotich's Olympic marathon win gives Uganda second gold ever |date=12 August 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Westfaelische">[http://www.wn.de/Lokalsport/Gronau/2011/04/Gronau-Tempomacher-ueberrascht-alle Tempomacher überrascht alle] Retrieved on 2010-08-12.</ref>
<ref name="Tokyo">{{cite web |url=http://www.tokyo42195.org/2012/results/s_result_list01.html |title=Tokyo Marathon Result – Top finisher by category – Marathon |work=Tokyo Marathon 2012 |access-date=12 August 2012 |language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905010231/http://www.tokyo42195.org/2012/results/s_result_list01.html |archive-date=5 September 2012 }}</ref>
<ref name="brown">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/athletics/9470600/Stephen-Kiprotich-becomes-Ugandas-second-ever-Olympic-gold-medallist-with-historic-mens-marathon-victory.html |author=Brown, Oliver |work=The Telegraph |date=12 August 2012 |title=Stephen Kiprotich becomes Uganda's second ever Olympic gold medallist with historic men's marathon victory |quote=John Akii-Bua, who had claimed Uganda’s only other Olympic gold with a world record in the 400 metres hurdles in 1972 |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Monitor">{{cite web |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/Sports/OtherSport/Kiprotich-crowned-2012-s-best--shifts-focus-to-Moscow-mission/-/690284/1670610/-/j0jrkp/-/index.html |title=Kiprotich crowned 2012's best, shifts focus to Moscow mission |first=Sande |last=Bashaija |publisher=Daily Monitor |date=2013-01-21 |access-date=2013-02-17}}</ref> }}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{World Athletics||name=Stephen Kiprotich }} * {{Facebook}} * {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130819054842/http://www.kiprotich.co.ug/|date=19 August 2013|title=Official Website}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Marathon Men}} {{Footer World Champions Marathon Men}} {{Footer Enschede Marathon Champions Men}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiprotich, Stephen}} Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kapchorwa District Category:Ugandan men long-distance runners Category:Ugandan men marathon runners Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for Uganda Category:Olympic gold medalists for Uganda Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics Category:World Athletics Championships winners Category:Olympic men marathon runners Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:21st-century Ugandan sportsmen Category:Athletes from Eastern Region, Uganda