Abel Kirui
Abel Kirui en route to his World Championship gold medal
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 6, 1982 |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 Kenya
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| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Marathon |
Abel Kirui (born 6 April 1982) is a long-distance runner from Kenya who competes in marathons. He had back-to-back wins in the World Championships Marathon in 2009 and 2011. He won in 2009 with a time of 2:06:54, then defended his title with a winning margin of two minutes and 28 seconds – the largest ever margin at the World Championship event. He won a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic marathon.
He has also won the 2016 Chicago Marathon, the 2007 Vienna Marathon and was runner-up at the 2007 Berlin Marathon.
Kirui started running while in Samitui Primary School. After high school, the jobless Kirui entered a recruitment race by Administration Police (AP) the winner of such race would be recruited by AP. Kirui won the race and subsequently joined AP, starting serious training only after then. He entered the 2006 Berlin Marathon as a pacemaker, but finished the race 9th.
He won the 2008 edition of the Vienna Marathon setting a new course record of 2:07:38. He set his personal best (2:06:51) in the classic distance on 30 September 2007 at the Berlin Marathon, where he finished second after Haile Gebrselassie, who set a new marathon world record. The time made Kirui the sixth fastest marathoner in 2007.
He finished third in the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon 2:05:04 after fellow Kenyans Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai, making him the sixth fastest marathoner ever.
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Wikipedia