Cornelius Kemboi
Kenyan athlete (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cornelius Kemboi (born 29 February 2000) is a Kenyan long-distance runner.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Kenyan | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 February 2000 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
Event | 1500 metres – 5000 metres | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 1500m: 3:41.3 (Nairobi, 2021) 3000m: 7:31.26 (Stockholm, 2022) 5000m: 12:57.80 (Oordegem, 2025) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early and personal life
Kemboi attended St Patrick's High School in Iten, in the west of Kenya, 350 kilometres north-west of Nairobi. His idol growing up was David Rudisha. He has two older brothers who both received athletics scholarships in the United States.[2]
Career
Competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, Kemboi finished eleventh in the final of the 5000m.[3][4]
Kemboi ran a new personal best 5000m time of 13:00.68 at the Night of Athletics meeting in Heusden, Belgium in July 2023.[5] He finished third in the 5000m at the Kenyan World Championship trials for the, held in Nairobi.[6] He competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest but did not qualify for the 5000m final.[7]
He was selected for the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, and finished fifth in the men's 5 km race on 1 October 2023.[8][9]
In January 2024, he won the Discovery Cross Country race in Eldoret in a time of 29:42.[10] He won a bronze medal in the 5000m race at the 2023 African Games in Accra in March 2024.[11]
He was selected for the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March 2025, where he finished in eighth place.[12][13] He finished eighth in the 5000 metres at the 2025 Shanghai Diamond League event in China on 3 May 2025.[14] He finished sixth over 5000 metres on 16 May at the 2025 Doha Diamond League.[15]
He won the 5000 metres race at the Kenyan World Championships Trials in July 2025 ahead of Mathew Kipsang.[16] In September 2025, he competed over 5000 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, without advancing to the final.[17] Kemboi placed third at the tRUNsylvania 10K – a World Athletics Elite Label road race in Brasov, Romania in October 2025.[18]
In April 2026, Kemboi won the 5000m in 13:09.31 ahead of compatriot Frankline Kibet at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi.[19]