Pius Maiyo Kirop (born 8 January 1990) is a Kenyan road runner. He won a team gold medal at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2012.
 Pius Maiyo Kirop at the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships in Kavarna, Bulgaria | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 8 January 1990 (age 34) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event(s) | 10K run, half marathon, marathon | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 10 km – 27:51 (2010) HM – 59:25 (2012) Marathon – 2:09:58 (2015)[1] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Kirop began competing on the European professional circuit in 2009, taking a runner-up spot at the Bucharest Half Marathon. He returned the following year to win that race and set a personal best of 60:39 minutes in fourth at the Route du Vin Half Marathon. His marathon debut in Frankfurt ended in a failure to finish. Highlights of his 2011 season included fourth-place finishes at the Göteborgsvarvet and Route du Vin race, but another marathon outing in Köln Marathon saw him fail to finish again.[2]
In 2012 he set a personal best of 59:25 minutes at the Berlin Half Marathon and won the Tilburg Ten Miles. He was selected for Kenya for the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.[3] Despite being one of the lesser runners on the circuit, he gave a strong performance there, taking fourth place in 61:11 minutes and helping John Nzau Mwangangi and Stephen Kosgei Kibet to the team gold medals.[1]
Kirop failed to make a breakthrough after his 2012 season – he ran in higher calibre races, but struggled to get near the top of the fields. He began marathon running in 2015 and set a best of 2:09:58 hours for ninth at the Paris Marathon.[2]
International competitions edit
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | World Half Marathon Championships | Kavarna, Bulgaria | 4th | Half marathon | 1:01:11 |
| 1st | Team | 3:03:52 |
Circuit wins edit
- Tilburg Ten Miles: 2012
- Bucharest Half Marathon: 2010
References edit
- ^ a b Pius Maiyo Kirop. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-03-30.
- ^ a b Pius Maiyo Kirop. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2016-03-30.
- ^ Pius Maiyo Kirop. All-Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-03-30.