Joan Chelimo

Joan Chelimo Melly (born 10 November 1990) is a Kenyan and Romanian^[1] female long-distance runner who competes in road running competitions. She is the 2018 Prague Half Marathon Champion and the winner of other prestigious road races such as Berlin Half Marathon, Boston 10K and Boston Half Marathon.

Joan Chelimo

Personal information
Born	(1990-11-10) 10 November 1990 (age 34) Kenya
Sport
Country	Romania
Sport	Athletics
Event	Marathon

Biography

Career

Chelimo ran 1500 metres while at school, going up to the National Championship level. She began to compete in small road races in 2011, mainly running in Spain and Morocco for the next 3 years. During that period, she won several races, including the Valencia 10K in a course record of 32:17^[2] and the OCP 10K Int’l de Khouribga where she set a then 31:41 personal best over the 10K distance.^[3]

She ended her 2014 season with 3 consecutive victories, winning Wachau Half Marathon in 1:11:52, Swansea 10K and Cardiff Half Marathon.^[4]

Due to pregnancy, she skipped the 2015 season and returned to competition in September 2016 by placing sixth at the Kericho 10K.^[5]

Chelimo won the 2017 Berlin Half Marathon in 1:08:45.^[6] In May, she finished second at Le Puy-en-Velay 15K^[7] before winning Boston 10K in a new best of 31:24^[8] In September, she ended up second at the Copenhagen Half Marathon after leading most of the race, clocking a new personal best of 1:06:25, the seventh fastest time of the year.^[9] She came back to Boston in October and won her second Boston Athletic Association event of the year by taking a commanding victory at the Boston Half Marathon in 1:10:31.^[10]

In 2018 Chelimo won the Elgeyo-Marakwet County Cross Country Championship.^[11] Three weeks later she became the ninth woman to ever run a half marathon under sixty-six minutes, finishing fourth at Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a new personal best of 1:05:37 in a race widely regarded as the greatest women’s half marathon ever held.^[12] Following her excellent performances and after going out under world-record pace for about seventeen kilometers, Chelimo won the 2018 Prague Half Marathon in 1:05:04, becoming the 4th fastest women of all-time over the distance.^[13] In September, she finished third at the Copenhagen Half Marathon after taking out the race at world-record pace for fifteen kilometers before being overtaken by Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan in the last two kilometers of the race.^[14] She then went on to win the 2018 Boston Half Marathon, defending her title and winning the race for the second consecutive time in 1:09:34.^[15] She won her last race of the season with ease at the Montferland Run.^[16]

In May 2021 Chelimo became a Romanian citizen. She won the Paris Half Marathon on 3 March 2024.^[17]

Activism

Chelimo is a survivor of gender-based violence. In order to raise awareness on the threats that athletes often face, in 2021 she co-founded Tirop’s Angels, a union of Kenyan athletes which campaigns against gender-based violence in the country and abroad. The organization was titled in honour of a fellow runner, the world record-holder Agnes Tirop, stabbed to death in October 2021 at her home in Iten, allegedly by her husband.^[18][19] In May 2024 the organization opened a centre in Iten which will serve as a shelter for victims of violence and abuse.^[20]

Personal life

She is married and has a daughter named Ariana.^[8] She trains and lives in Iten.

Road race wins and championship medals

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2011	Torrevieja Half Marathon	Torrevieja, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:18:16
	Alicante Half Marathon	Alicante, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:17:50
	Bilbao 15K	Bilbao, Spain	1st	15K	53:43
	Crevillentina 10K	Crevillentina, Spain	1st	10K	33:56
2012	Khouribga 10K	Khouribga, Morocco	1st	10K	31:41 CR
	Bilbao 15K	Bilbao, Spain	1st	15K	53:52
	Valencia 10K	Valencia, Spain	1st	10K	32:17 CR
2014	Mohammédia 10K	Mohammédia, Morocco	1st	10K	31:58
	Wachau Half Marathon	Krems an der Donau, Austria	1st	Half marathon	1:11:52
	Swansea 10K	Swansea, United Kingdom	1st	10K	33:04
	Cardiff Half Marathon	Cardiff, United Kingdom	1st	Half marathon	1:12:26
2017	Berlin Half Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Half marathon	1:08:45
	Boston 10K	Boston, USA	1st	10K	31:24
	Boston Half Marathon	Boston, USA	1st	Half marathon	1:10:31
2018	Prague Half Marathon	Prague, Czech Republic	1st	Half marathon	1:05:04
	Kisii Half Marathon	Kisii, KEN	1st	Half Marathon	1:10:25
	Boston Half Marathon	Boston, USA	1st	Half Marathon	1:09:34
	Montferland Run	's-Heerenberg, NED	1st	15K	48:44
2024	Paris Half Marathon	Paris, FRA	1st	Half Marathon	1:06:58
	European Championships	Rome, ITA	2nd	Half Marathon	1:08:55

Personal bests

• 5K – 14:51 (2018)
• 10K – 30:14 (2018)
• 15K – 45:54 (2018)
• Half marathon – 1:05:04 (2018)

References

1. "Kenyencele Joan Chelimo, Stella Ruto și Delvine Meringor au primit cetățenia română. Două dintre ele au baremul pentru JO Tokyo la maraton". Click mobile.
2. "El Maratón Divina Pastora Valencia vuelve a asombrar al mundo" .
3. "Winners of AIMS events in 2013" .
4. "Kongin and Chelimo win Cardiff Half" .
5. "Safaricom Kericho Road Race: Cardiff Half Marathon winner Chelimo bounces back" .
6. "Late-entrant Joan Melly takes surprise victory while fellow-Kenyan Gilbert Masai wins".
7. "Exploit et record pour Mathew Kimeli".
8. "Chebii and Chelimo Secure Kenyan Sweep at B.A.A. 10K" Archived 2018-05-07 at the Wayback Machine.
9. "Cheroben sizzles 58:40 world lead at Copenhagen Half Marathon - IAAF" .
10. "Kenyans Sweep 2017 B.A.A. Half Marathon"^{[permanent dead link‍]}.
11. "Chelimo, Kimeli win in Elgeyo Marakwet".
12. "Chemutai threatens world record at RAK Half Marathon".
13. "MELLY SIZZLES TO 1:05:04 VICTORY AT PRAGUE HALF MARATHON".
14. "HASSAN SMASHES EUROPEAN RECORD AT COPENHAGEN HALF MARATHON".
15. "Joan Chelimo repeats as women’s champion".
16. "Geen parcoursrecord bij Montferland Run".
17. " World Athletics".
18. "BBC 100 Women 2024: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
19. McAlister, Sean (2023-11-25). "Tirop's Angels: How the death of one of the world's most promising athletes began a movement against gender-based violence". Olympic Games. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
20. Esene, Shalom (2024-05-07). "In Honor of Slain Olympian, Family and Friends Open Center for Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Kenya". Okay Africa. Retrieved 2024-12-10.

External links

• Joan Chelimo at World Athletics
• All Athletics profile^{[permanent dead link‍]}