Chepkoech is a two-time 3000m steeplechase Diamond League champion and won two Kenyan national titles.
Career
Beatrice Chepkoech began her career in road running, taking top three placings at several low-key races in Germany and Netherlands in 2014.[3] She switched to track running in 2015 and set a 1500 metres personal best of 4:03.28 to win the race at the KBC Night of Athletics. This time placed her just outside the top twenty athletes for the season and she was the fifth-fastest Kenyan.[4] A bronze medal in the event followed at the 2015 African Games.[5]
Chepkoech ended her 2015 season with a run in the 2000 metres steeplechase at the ISTAF Berlin, finishing a close second in a quality field and beating 2015 world bronze steeplechase medallist Gesa Felicitas Krause.[6] This prompted her to try the full 3000m Olympic event. She made a successful transition and the steeplechase her main focus in 2016. On the Diamond League circuit she ran 9:17.41 for fourth at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene before taking second at the BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm. Chepkoech ranked fifth in the world upon entry to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she finished fourth with a time of 9:16.05.[7][2] She set a new personal best of 9:10.86 in Paris later that month.[2]
In 2017, Chepkoech won her first Diamond League race, taking 3000m steeplechase victory in Paris with a time of 9:01.69.[2] At the London World Championships in August, she missed a water jump and had to run back in the final, finishing a disappointing fourth in 9:10.45.[6] At the end of August, she broke for the first time the nine-minute barrier, clocking 8:59.84 for second in Zürich circuit final.[2]
She finished second in the 1500m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia.[2] On 20 July that year, the 27-year-old obliterated the women's 3000m steeplechase world record by more than eight seconds with a time of 8:44.32 at the Monaco Herculis meeting (highlights Video on YouTube). She beat the mark of 8:52.78 set by Kenyan-born-Bahraini Ruth Jebet in 2016.[8] Chepkoech then claimed the gold medal in the event at the African Championships the following month, setting a championship record of 8:59.88 in the process. She earned her first Diamond League title in her specialist event that year, securing three victories out of the five events, including final in Brussels.[2]
In 2019, she competed in the senior women's race at the World Cross Country Championships held in March in Aarhus, Denmark, finishing in seventh place.[9] In September, the 28-year-old triumphed in the 3000m steeplechase at the Doha World Championships in Qatar with a time of 8:57.84, breaking the championship record in the process. Chepkoech won her second steeplechase Diamond Trophy that year, winning four of the five events, including final in Zürich.[2]
In February 2021, she broke the 5km road world record in a time of 14 minutes 43 seconds at the Monaco Run. The previous world record in a mixed gender race was set by Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui in 2018 with 14:48. Chepkoech's time bettered also Sifan Hassan's women only record of 14:44 set in 2019.[10][11] Chepkoech placed seventh in her signature event with a time of 9:16.33 at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August.[2]
