Famous people from Kenya
Here is a list of famous people from Kenya. Curious if anybody from Kenya made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Wangari Maathai
Environmentalist
Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace". Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. Furthermore she was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.
Richard Dawkins
Academic
Clinton Richard Dawkins, Sc. D., FRS, FRSL is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. Dawkins came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and introduced the term meme. In 1982, he introduced into evolutionary biology the influential concept that the phenotypic effects of a gene are not necessarily limited to an organism's body, but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms; this concept is presented in his book The Extended Phenotype. Dawkins is an atheist, a vice president of the British Humanist Association, and a supporter of the Brights movement. He is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. In his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker, he argues against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms. Instead, he describes evolutionary processes as analogous to a blind watchmaker. He has since written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion—"a fixed false belief". As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages.
Chris Froome
Professional Road Racing Cyclist
Christopher Froome is a Kenyan-born British professional road racing cyclist and winner of the 2013 Tour de France, riding for UCI ProTeam Team Sky. Brought up in Kenya and South Africa, he has ridden since 2008 under a British licence on the basis of his passport and his father and grandparents' country of birth. In 2007 Froome turned professional at the age of 22 with Team Konica Minolta. He moved to Europe to further his career, joining the British-based team, Barloworld. In 2010 he moved to Team Sky and has become one of the team's key cyclists. Froome made his breakthrough as a Grand Tour contender during the 2011 Vuelta a España where he finished second overall. At the 2012 Tour de France, riding as a domestique for Bradley Wiggins, Froome won stage seven and finished second overall, behind only Wiggins' win in the same race as the best British performance in the race's history. In the same year he also won the bronze medal in the time trial event at the Olympic Games and finished fourth in the Vuelta a España. His first stage race win came in 2013, in the Tour of Oman, followed by wins in the Critérium International, the Tour de Romandie, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France.
Roger Whittaker
Pop Artist
Roger Whittaker, B.Sc. is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Kenya. His music can be described as easy listening or perhaps best as ballads. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability. American audiences are most familiar with his 1970 hit "New World in the Morning" and his 1975 hit "The Last Farewell", the latter of which is his only single to hit the Billboard Hot 100 and also hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Philippa Gregory
Novelist
Philippa Gregory is a British historical novelist who has been writing since 1987. The best known of her works is The Other Boleyn Girl, which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Victor Wanyama
Soccer Midfielder
Victor Mugubi Wanyama is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a centre back for Premier League club Southampton and captains the Kenya national team. On 11 July 2013, Wanyama moved to Premier League club Southampton for £12.5 million making him the most expensive player to be sold by a Scottish club, surpassing the £9.5 million Russian club Spartak Moscow paid for Aiden McGeady in 2010. Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to score in the UEFA Champions League when he scored the first goal in Celtic's historic 2–1 win over Barcelona on 7 November 2012.
Uhuru Kenyatta
Politician
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is the fourth and the current President of Kenya, he has been in office since 9 April 2013. He previously served in the Government of Kenya as Minister for Local Government from 2001 to 2002, and he was Leader of the Official Opposition from 2002 to 2007; subsequently he was Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013. He served as the Member of Parliament for Gatundu South Constituency beginning in 2002. Kenyatta was also Chairman of Kenya African National Union, which was a part of the Party of National Unity.
Jomo Kenyatta
Politician
Jomo Kenyatta was the leader of Kenya from independence in 1963 to his death in 1978, serving first as Prime Minister and then as President. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation. He was a well educated intellectual who authored several books, and is remembered as a Pan-Africanist. He is also the father of Kenya's fourth and current President Uhuru Kenyatta. Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi's main street and main streets in many Kenyan cities and towns, numerous schools, two universities, the country's main referral hospital, markets and housing estates are named after him, considered by some a quasi-monarchical leader. A statue in Nairobi city centre and monuments all over Kenya stand in his honour. Kenya observed a public holiday every 20 October in his honour until the 2010 constitution abolished Kenyatta Day and replaced it with Mashujaa day. Kenyatta's face adorns Kenyan currency notes and coins of all denominations, but this is expected to change as Kenya's 2010 constitution bars the use of the portrait of any person on Kenya's currency.
Raila Odinga
Politician
Raila Amolo Odinga, also popularly known to his supporters as Agwambo, is a Kenyan politician who was Prime Minister of Kenya, leading to a coalition government, from 2008 to 2013. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Langata in 1992, served as Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002 and as Minister of Roads, Public Works, and Housing from 2003 to 2005. He was the main opposition candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Following a violent post-electoral crisis, Odinga took office as Prime Minister in April 2008,serving as supervisor of a national unity coalition government. He came in second in Kenya's 2013 presidential elections after garnering 5,340,546 votes which represented 43.28% of the total votes cast. Son of first Vice president of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga; Raila's brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently a Member of Parliament. The family's origin in Kenya's Luo tribe has been a key to their political activity. Raila is commonly known by his first name due to coincidence: he was an MP at the same time as his father between 1992 and 1994, and is currently in the House with Oburu. In Raila Odinga was a presidential contender in the 1997 elections, coming third after President Daniel arap Moi of KANU and Mwai Kibaki, the former president of Kenya and then a member of the Democratic Party. Odinga campaigned to run for president in the December 2007 elections on an Orange Democratic Movement ticket.
Daniel arap Moi
Politician
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi is a Kenyan politician who served as the 2nd President of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He also served as the country's 3rd Vice President from 1967 to 1978. Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as "Nyayo", a Swahili word for "footsteps", as he often said he was following the footsteps of the first President. He has also earned the sobriquet 'Professor of Politics' due to his long rule.
David Rudisha
Olympic athlete
David Lekuta Rudisha is a Kenyan middle distance runner. He is the current Olympic and world record holder in the 800 metres, as well as the current Olympic Champion at the distance. Rudisha was the first person to run under 1:41.00 for the event, and he holds the three fastest, six of the eight fastest, and half of the twenty fastest times ever run in this event. Rudisha has won a record 3 consecutive Track & Field Athlete of the Year awards, and also won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in 2010.
Mwai Kibaki
Politician
Mwai Kibaki, C.G.H. is a Kenyan politician. He was the third President of Kenya, serving from December 2002 to April 2013. Kibaki was first elected President in 2002 after beating Uhuru Kenyatta, now his successor as Kenya's Current and 4th President and the son of Kenya's founder President, Jomo Kenyatta, after two failed bids in 1992 and 1997, both of which he lost to then long serving incumbent, Kenya's 2nd President, Daniel Arap Moi. Kibaki was re-elected in controversial circumstances in 2007 after beating prominent opposition leader Raila Odinga. Kibaki was previously Vice-President of Kenya for ten years from 1978 to 1988 under President Daniel Arap Moi. He also held cabinet ministerial positions in the Kenyatta and Moi governments, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance under Kenyatta, and Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Health under Moi. Kibaki also served as an opposition Member of Parliament from 1992 up to his election in 2002 after his two unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1992 and 1997.
Bernard Lagat
Olympic athlete
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American middle and long distance champion athlete. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the USA, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his native country. He is the American record holder in the 1500m, Mile, and 2 mile indoors, as well as the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m outdoors, and is the Kenyan record holder at 1500m outdoors. Lagat is a twelve time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals.
Ezekiel Kemboi
Olympic athlete
Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi is a Kenyan athlete, winner of the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2009 World Championships, the 2011 World Championships, the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the 2013 World Championships. His 3000 m steeplechase best of 7:55.76 places him as the sixth fastest of all time. He is one of only three men to have won both Olympic and World golds in the event, along with Reuben Kosgei and Brimin Kipruto.
Louis Leakey
Archeologist
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa, particularly through his discoveries in the Olduvai Gorge. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there. Having been a prime mover in establishing a tradition of palaeoanthropological inquiry, he was able to motivate the next generation to continue it, notably within his own family, many of whom also became prominent. Leakey participated in national events of British East Africa and Kenya during the 1950s. In natural philosophy, he asserted Charles Darwin's theory of evolution unswervingly and set about to prove Darwin's hypothesis that humans arose in Africa. Leakey was also a devout Christian.
Barack Obama Sr.
Politician
Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Kenyan senior governmental economist and the father of U.S. President Barack Obama. He is a central figure of his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father. Obama married in 1954 and had two children with his first wife, Kezia. He was selected for a special program to attend college in the United States, where he went to the University of Hawaii. There, Obama met Stanley Ann Dunham, whom he married in 1961 and divorced three years later, after having a son, Barack II, named after him. The elder Obama later went to Harvard University for graduate school, earning an M.A. in economics and returned to Kenya in 1964. Later that year, Obama married Ruth Beatrice Baker, a Jewish American woman with whom he had developed a relationship in Massachusetts. They had two sons together before separating in 1971 and divorcing in 1973. Obama first worked for an oil company, before beginning work as an economist with the Kenyan Ministry of Transport. He gained a promotion to senior economic analyst in the Ministry of Finance. Among a cadre of young Kenyan men educated in the West in a program supported by Tom Mboya, Obama had conflicts with Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, which adversely affected his career. He was fired and blacklisted in Kenya, finding it nearly impossible to get a job. Drinking heavily, Obama suffered three serious car accidents, the last of which claimed his life in 1982.
McDonald Mariga
Soccer Midfielder
McDonald Mariga Wanyama is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan. Mariga made history as the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League on 16 March 2010.
Deep Roy
Actor
Gurdeep Roy, sometimes credited as Roy Deep, Gordeep Roy, or Deep Roy, is a Kenyan-born Indian-English actor, stuntman, and puppeteer. Due to his diminutive size, he has appeared in a number of similar-sized roles, such as the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Keenser in Star Trek, and in television series such as The X-Files and Eastbound & Down.
Shad K.
Hip hop Artist
Shadrach Kabango, better known by his stage name Shad or Shad K., is a Canadian hip hop artist.
Peter Hain
Politician
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Neath since 1991, and served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was the Leader of the House of Commons from 2003 to 2005 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007 under Blair, and as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales from 2007 to 2008 under Brown. In 2007, he ran for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party, coming fifth out of six candidates, although his failure to declare donations during this contest led to his resignation in 2008. He later returned to the Cabinet from 2009 to 2010 as Welsh Secretary, before becoming Shadow Welsh Secretary in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet from 2010 until 2012, when he announced his retirement from front-line politics. He came to the UK from South Africa as a teenager, and was a noted anti-apartheid campaigner in the 1970s. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the ill-fated Alternative Vote system campaign in May 2011, together with his close friend and fellow former Young Liberal Richard Burden.
Wilson Kipketer
Olympic athlete
Wilson Kosgei Kipketer is a Kenyan-born Danish former middle distance runner. He holds the current indoor world records at the 1000 and 800 metres distance. While dominating the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a three-year period and running 8 of the 17 currently all-time fastest times, he never won an Olympic gold medal. He did, however, win gold medals in three successive editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Kipketer's 800 meters world record stood for almost 13 years. It was surpassed on August 22, 2010, when David Rudisha beat it by 0.02 seconds, running 1:41:09. Kipketer represented both Sparta and KIF during his running career.
Richard Leakey
Academic
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey is a politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. He is second of the three sons of the archaeologists Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey, and is the younger brother of Colin Leakey.
Asbel Kiprop
Olympic athlete
Asbel Kiprop is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specializes in the 1500 metres. Kiprop was awarded the 1500 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics after the original winner, Rashid Ramzi, tested positive for doping. Kiprop won his first world title in the event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. He won his first major title at the 2007 All-Africa Games, taking the 1500 m gold medal, and also won the event at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, improving upon a bronze medal performance from 2008. His personal best for the distance is 3:27.72.
William Ruto
Politician
William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto is a Kenyan politician and the first Deputy President of Kenya. He was sworn in on 9 April 2013. He was the running mate in the successful Jubilee coalition ticket led by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 2013 general elections. He is currently an accused suspect, by the International Criminal Court for committing crimes against humanity. On 19 October 2010, he was suspended by the government on corruption charges. He had previously served in the Ministry of Agriculture since April 2008. Ruto was elected Director of Elections on 18 March 2002, when the National Development Party led by Raila Odinga merged with the Kenya African National Union. He was Secretary General of KANU, the former ruling political party, and he has been MP for Eldoret North Constituency since the 1997 Kenyan election a seat he won after trouncing the former M.P. The Late Hon. Rueben Chesire. He became an Assistant Minister in the Office of the President and was appointed Minister in charge of Home Affairs in August 2002 but lost the post after the December 2002 election, in which Kenya African National Union lost to the National Rainbow Coalition coalition. He also previously served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform in the 9th Parliament.
Patrick Makau Musyoki
Man
Patrick Makau Musyoki is a runner from Kenya. He is the former world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:38, set at the 2011 Berlin Marathon. He is also notable for his half marathon performances, having won a number of prominent competitions in Europe in sub-1-hour performances.
Josh Saviano
Actor
Joshua David "Josh" Saviano is an American lawyer and former child actor who played Kevin Arnold's best friend, Paul Joshua Pfeiffer, in the comedy-drama television show The Wonder Years.
Edi Gathegi
Actor
Edi Mue Gathegi is a Kenyan-American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone and as Laurent in the films Twilight, its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Darwin in X-Men: First Class.
Paul Tergat
Olympic athlete
Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan professional long distance runner. He held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Now concentrating exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many titles and set several world records on the track, in cross country, and on the road. Nicknamed the "Gentleman," Tergat is extremely hard-working and self-motivated. He lives and trains in Ngong, near Nairobi.
Samuel Wanjiru
Olympic athlete
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru was a Kenyan athlete who specialised in long distance running. He became a professional at a young age and broke the world record in the half marathon when he was 18 years old. In 2007, he broke the 20 km road running record and improved the half marathon record by over twenty seconds. He moved to the full marathon and won the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. The following year, he won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon, running the fastest marathons ever recorded in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively. He retained his Chicago title in 2010 in a season fraught with injury. In 2011, he died after falling off a balcony at his home in Nyahururu following a domestic dispute. Police are still uncertain whether his death was a suicide, homicide, or accidental.
Vivian Cheruiyot
Olympic athlete
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot is an athlete from Kenya who specialises in long distance running. She represented Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cheruiyot won a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition. After taking a silver at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she won a number of outdoor titles that year, becoming African champion, Commonwealth Games champion and IAAF Continental Cup champion, as well as winning the 2010 IAAF Diamond League title. She holds the Kenyan record and Commonwealth record for the 5000 m with her best time of 14:20.89, which was set at the DN Galan in 2011.
Ali Velshi
Journalist
Ali Velshi is a Canadian television journalist and host of Real Money with Ali Velshi on Al Jazeera America. Best known for his work on CNN, He was CNN's Chief Business Correspondent, Anchor of CNN's Your Money and a co-host of CNN International's weekday business show World Business Today. In 2013, he joined Al Jazeera America, a channel that launched in August 2013.
Dennis Oliech
Soccer
Dennis Oguta Oliech is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Ajaccio.
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich
Olympic athlete
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the current world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:03:23, which he set at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. He has run under 2 hours 5 minutes for the marathon on four separate occasions. Kipsang is a two-time winner of the Frankfurt Marathon and has also won the London and Berlin Marathons. He holds the twelfth best time over the half marathon distance.
Tom Mboya
Politician
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya was a Kenyan politician during Jomo Kenyatta's government. He was founder of the Nairobi People's Congress Party, a key figure in the formation of the Kenya African National Union, and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development at the time of his death. Mboya was assassinated on 5 July 1969 in Nairobi.
Kipchoge Keino
Olympic athlete
Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee, is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Kip Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2012 he was of one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall Of Fame.
George Saitoti
Politician
George Kinuthia Saitoti, E.G.H. was a Kenyan politician, businessman and American- and British-trained economist, mathematician and development policy thinker. As a mathematician, Saitoti served as Head of the Mathematics Department at the University of Nairobi, pioneered the founding of the African Mathematical Union and served as its Vice-President from 1976–1979. As an economist, Saitoti served as the Executive Chairman of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1990–91, and as President of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in 1999–2000, at the crucial phase of re-negotiating the new development partnership agreement to replace the expired Lomé Convention between the ACP bloc and the European Union. His book, The Challenges of Economic and Institutional Reforms in Africa influenced practical policy directions on an array of areas during the turbulent 1980s and 1990s. Saitoti joined politics as a nominated Member of Parliament and Minister for Finance in 1983, rising to become Kenya's longest serving Vice-President, a proficient Minister for education, Internal Security and Provincial Administration and Foreign Affairs. Few recognise him as a 'reformist', but his recommendations as the Chair of the KANU Review Committee, popularly known as the "Saitoti Committee" in 1990–91, opened KANU to internal changes and set the stage for the repeal of Section 2A and Kenya's return to pluralist democracy. Saitoti left KANU and joined the opposition, becoming a kingpin figure in the negotiations that led to the "NARC Revolution" in 2002. As Minister for Internal Security and Provincial Administration, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and key member of the National Security Advisory Committee, he later worked closely with the national Ministry of Defence to see through the Operation Linda Nchi against the Al-Shabaab insurgent group. In addition, rival factions had for decades invoked the infamous Goldenberg fraud to knock Saitoti out of politics, but the legal courts cleared him of the scandal in July 2006. Saitoti's dual heritage as a Maasai with Kikuyu family members predisposed him to a pan-Kenyan vision, but also denied him a strong ethnic base unlike his competitors. As one of Kenya's most experienced, unassuming and shrewd politicians, Saitoti was billed as a front-runner in the race to succeed President Mwai Kibaki.
Edna Kiplagat
Olympic Road runner
Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She is the 2011 and 2013 IAAF World Champion in the marathon. She established herself as an elite marathon runner with wins at the Los Angeles and New York City Marathons in 2010. Her personal best for the distance is 2:19:50 hours, set at the London Marathon in 2012.
Edwin Soi
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Edwin Cheruiyot Soi is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres. He is a two-time Olympian for Kenya. His earliest honours were team gold medals with Kenya at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2006 and 2007. Soi has had his success on the track – he was the 5000 m bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was highly successful at the IAAF World Athletics Final, taking three gold and three silver medals from 2006 to 2008. He became the continental champion on the track at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics and was the 3000 m bronze medallist at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Soi has won numerous 10K road races in his career; he has won three times consecutively at the BOclassic, Memorial Peppe Greco and Giro Media Blenio races, and has had four straight wins at the Giro al Sas. His personal best for the distance is 27:46 minutes.
Linet Masai
Olympic athlete
Linet Chepkwemoi Masai is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Masai became the world junior cross country champion in 2007 and set a world junior record for the 10,000 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics, placing fourth in the final. She was the runner-up at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships three times consecutively from 2009 to 2011. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, she won her second world track medal, taking third in the 10,000 m.
Pamela Jelimo
Olympic athlete
Pamela Jelimo is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in this event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first Kenyan to win the Golden League Jackpot. She holds both the 800 m world junior record and the senior African record over the same distance. Jelimo is also one of the youngest women to win an Olympic gold medal for Kenya.
Simon Shaw
Rugby Player
Simon Dalton Shaw MBE is an English rugby union player who plays at lock for Toulon and England.
Mutula Kilonzo
Lawyer
Mutula Kilonzo was a Kenyan politician and Senior Counsel, who served as Minister of Education after having previously served as the Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan and justice and constitutional affairs He belonged to the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya and was elected to represent the Makueni County as Senator in the 2013 general elections.
Saif Saaeed Shaheen
Athlete
Saif Saaeed Shaheen formerly Stephen Cherono is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya, but now represents Qatar. He currently holds the world record for 3000 meter steeplechase. His older brother Abraham Cherono is also a steeplechase runner. He was the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world junior record two years later. He won the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games for Kenya but switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003. That year he became world champion in the event, although a dispute with the Kenyan Athletics Federation meant he was ineligible to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He defeated that year's Olympic champion, Ezekiel Kemboi, a month later with a world record run of 7:53.63 minutes. In the 2006 season he took the 3000 metres silver medal at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and also set a number of Asian records. He completed a 5000 m/steeplechase double at the 2006 IAAF World Cup. Serious injuries ruled him out from late 2006 to 2008 and he returned to competition in 2009.
Geoffrey Mutai
Olympic athlete
Geoffrey Kiprono Mutai is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. On 18 April 2011 at the Boston Marathon, Mutai ran the fastest marathon ever in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds, though this time will not be recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations as a world record since the Boston course does not meet the criteria to be eligible for the mark. His other significant victories include the Monaco Marathon. He is also a strong half marathon runner, with wins at the Valencia Half Marathon and RAK Half Marathon, and a best of 58 minutes 55 seconds, to his name. He also won the 2011 New York City Marathon with a time of 2 hours 5 minutes and 5 seconds, breaking the course record set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia in 2001, and repeated his performance at the 2013 New York City Marathon with a time of 2 hours 8 minutes and 24 seconds.
Nitin Ganatra
Actor
Nitin Chandra Ganatra is a Kenyan-born British actor.
Arap Bethke
TV Actor
Ricardo Arap Bethke Galdames is a Mexican actor.
Lornah Kiplagat
Olympic athlete
Lornah Kiplagat is a Dutch long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlands since. She runs not only road events but also in cross country and track and field. She ran at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, was the 2007 gold medallist at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and took three straight World Road Running Championship titles from 2006 to 2008. In the marathon, she holds a best time of 2:22:22 hours and has won major races in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Osaka. She currently holds the world road record over 5 kilometres and 10 miles. Her best times over 20 km and the half marathon distance were world records from 2007 to 2011 and remain the second fastest times ever. Part of a highly successful family of runners, her relatives include Sylvia Kibet, Hilda Kibet and Susan Sirma.
Daniel Komen
Athlete
Daniel Kipngetich Komen is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, Komen's most notable achievements came in a two-year period between 1996 and 1998, during which he broke a string of world records. Komen's 1998 indoor and 1996 outdoor records for 3,000 m still stand, and he remains the only man to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles. Komen was also the second man, after Saïd Aouita, to break both the 13-minute mark for the 5,000 m and the 3½-minute mark for the 1,500 m.
Simon King
Presenter
Simon Henry King OBE is a British television presenter and cameraman, specialising in nature documentaries. King received an Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society in 2011. King has been working in the field of natural history film making for over 30 years. He has credited his media career to his parents, his father being in the television industry and his mother being involved in the music industry.
Milcah Cheywa
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Milcah Chemos Cheywa is a runner from Kenya who specialises in 3000 metres steeplechase. She is African record holder at the distance and is the gold medalist of the 2013 World Championships in Athletics.
Tegla Loroupe
Olympic athlete
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 20, 25 and 30 kilometres and previously held the world marathon record. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Boston, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin, Rome, and many of other cities.
Brimin Kipruto
Olympic athlete
Brimin Kipruto is a Kenyan middle distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Korkitony, Keiyo District. He holds a personal best of 7:53.64 minutes which is the second fastest time ever run, and the African Record. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics at the age of nineteen and improved to win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics four years later. A World Championships bronze medallist in 2005, he took his first global title in the steeplechase with a win at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Politician
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chieftain who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader. Odinga's son Raila Odinga is the former Prime Minister, and another son, Oburu Odinga, is the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance.
Stella Mwangi
Pop Artist
Stella Nyambura Mwangi is a Norwegian-Kenyan singer, songwriter and rapper. Mwangi writes a lot of her music about the situation in her home country Kenya, also about discrimination both Stella and her family had to go through after moving to Norway in 1991. Her work has been used in films such as American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile and Save the Last Dance 2, and also in TV-series such as CSI: NY and Scrubs. She has won several awards including; the Kisima Awards, Clops Awards and Jeermaan Awards, she is one of the most popular singers in Norway after winning the Melodi Grand Prix 2011. She started to practice playing music when she was just eight years old. She is not just a singer, but she also plays the piano. Mwangi has had hits in Kenya, Senegal, and Gambia. Mwangi's father was killed in a hit-and-run accident in February 2012.
Janeth Jepkosgei
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei is a Kenyan middle distance runner and former world champion.
Daniel Adongo
Rugby Player
Daniel Adongo is a former rugby union player and currently an American football player for the Indianapolis Colts.
Martin Lel
Olympic athlete
Martin Kiptolo Lel is a Kenyan long distance and marathon runner. He won the London Marathon in 2005, 2007, and 2008, the New York City Marathon in 2003 and 2007 and the Great North Run in 2007 and 2009. His personal best time, as of April 2008, is 2:05:15, which he ran in the 2008 London Marathon setting a course record. Lel is coached by Claudio Berardelli and lives in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. Lel ran his first marathons in 2002: he failed to finish at the Prague Marathon, but in his first finish he managed to claim second in the Venice Marathon. He won Lisbon Half Marathon in 2003, 2006 and 2009, was the comedy gold medalist at the 2003 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, and won the Portugal Half Marathon in 2005. He made his Olympic debut for Kenya at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and came fifth in the marathon. He beat Samuel Wanjiru to win the inaugural edition of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon in 2010. In August 2010 he ran at the Falmouth Road Race and took third place. After almost 3 years without running a marathon, he participated in the 2011 London Marathon as a replacement for Samuel Wanjiru, who was originally invited to run, but he still placed second with a time of 2:05:45, out-sprinting Patrick Makau at the finish line. He ran the 15K Saint Silvester Road Race at the end of the year, but was beaten into fourth place. Lel entered two races the year after: he was runner-up again at the 2012 London Marathon and was victorious at the Portugal Half Marathon with a time of 61:28 minutes.
Alan Fletcher
Graphic Designer
Alan Gerard Fletcher was a British graphic designer. In his obituary, he was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific". Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Fletcher moved to England at age 5, and studied at four art schools Hammersmith School of Art, Central School of Art, Royal College of Art and lastly Yale School of Architecture at Yale University in 1956.
Ali Mazrui
Philosopher
Ali Al'amin Mazrui is an academic and political writer on African and Islamic studies and North-South relations. He is an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.
Wangechi Mutu
Visual Artist
Wangechi Mutu is an artist and sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Mutu is considered by many to be one of the most important contemporary African artists of recent years, and her work has achieved much global acclaim.
Alfred Kirwa Yego
Olympic athlete
Alfred Kirwa Yego is a Kenyan middle distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 800 m at the 2007 World Championships. Yego competed at the 2005 World Championships, but did not advance past 800 metres heats. His coach is Claudio Berardelli, who has also coached olympic medalists Janeth Jepkosgei and Nancy Lagat Yego won the silver at the 2009 World Championships in the 800 m. A few weeks afterwards, he improved his 800 m personal best to 1:42.67 min in Rieti, finishing second behind David Rudisha who ran a new African record.
Daniel Adams-Ray
Musical Artist
Daniel David John Adams-Ray is a Swedish rapper, singer, and fashion designer.
Dedan Kimathi
Author
Dedan Kimathi Waciuri born Kimathi wa Waciuri, was a leader of the Mau Mau which led an armed military struggle known as the Mau Mau uprising against the British colonial government in Kenya in the 1950s. A highly controversial character, Kimathi's life has been subject to intense propaganda by both the British government who saw him as a terrorist, and Kenyan nationalists who view him as the heroic figurehead of the Mau Mau rebellion. Despite being viewed with disdain by the Jomo Kenyatta regime and subsequent governments, Kimathi and his fellow Mau Mau rebels are now officially recognised as heroes in the struggle for Kenyan independence by the incumbent government. His capture and execution in 1957 led to the eventual defeat of the uprising by the Kenyan government.
Moses Kiptanui
Olympic athlete
Moses Kiptanui is a middle and long distance athlete mostly famous for 3,000 m steeplechase in which he was the number one ranked athlete from 1991 to 1995 and three time IAAF World Champion. Kiptanui was also the first man ever to run 3000 m steeplechase in under eight minutes.
Eliud Kipchoge
Olympic athlete
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long distance runner who has won medals at Olympic and World level. He came to prominence in 2003 by winning the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, setting a world junior record over 5000 metres on the track and then becoming world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. An Olympic 5000 m bronze for Kenya followed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and he took another bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. A series of silver medals came, starting at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics before another runner-up placing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was fifth at the 2009 World Championships but again reached the podium at the 2010 Commonwealth Games; he was second behind Moses Kipsiro in the 5000 metres. He has won four medals at editions of the annual IAAF World Athletics Final and is a five-time 5000 m finalist at the World Championships. His 3000 metres best of 7:27.72 ranks him among the top ten at the distance and his 5000 m best of 12:46.53 makes him the fourth fastest ever in the event. He began to move towards road running in 2012 and set a half marathon best of 59:25 minutes. He then won the 2013 Hamburg Marathon with a very fast finishing time of 2:05:30 hours.
Catherine Ndereba
Olympic athlete
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a Kenyan marathon runner. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Ndereba broke the women's marathon world record in 2001, running 2:18:47 at the Chicago Marathon. In 2008, Ndereba was described by a Chicago Tribune sportswriter as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.
Abel Kirui
Olympic athlete
Abel Kirui 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 Vienna Marathon and was runner-up at the 2007 Berlin Marathon.
Derek Pringle
Cricket Bowler
Derek Raymond Pringle is an English former Test and ODI cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist. He was educated at Felsted School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Mercy Cherono
Woman
Mercy Cherono is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres and has also won gold medals at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. She has been a success junior athlete in cross country running, taking the silver medals in the junior team and individual competitions at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and improving to the gold medals at the 2010 edition.
Julius Yego
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Julius Kiplagat Yego is a Kenyan track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the Kenyan record holder for the event with a personal best of 85.40 metres. He was third at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics and became the first Kenyan to win the javelin title at the All-Africa Games in 2011.
Jason Dunford
Swimmer
Jason Edward Dunford is a Kenyan swimmer. He is predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter. He has won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, Universiade, All-Africa Games and African Championships, and reached finals at Olympics, World Championships and Short Course World Championships. He has also held African, Universiade and Olympic records. Many of his achievements are unprecedented in the history of Kenyan swimming.
Saba Douglas-Hamilton
Broadcaster
Saba Iassa Douglas-Hamilton is a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and television presenter.
Moses Ndiema Masai
Olympic athlete
Moses Ndiema Masai is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres. Masai is from Bugaa village, four kilometres to Kapsokwony town. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cherop, he is the first born out of ten children. He started running while at Kapsogom Primary School. Later he joined Bishop Okiring Secondary School. At the 2005 Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year awards he won the most promising sportsman category. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final in the 5000 m. He ran in the 2008 Summer Olympics and managed to finish in fourth position in the 10,000 metres final, narrowly missing out on a medal. His younger sister, Linet Masai, won women's 10,000 metres gold at the 2009 World Championships, himself winning bronze over the same distance. Other siblings Dennis, Ndiema and Magdaline are also runners. Their father John Barasa Masai is also a former runner, while Ben Jipcho, a legendary athlete, is their distant uncle. Moses Masai won the 2009 New Year's Eve San Silvestre Vallecana race. He took the World's Best 10K title at the 2010 race in Puerto Rico, scoring a new course record of 27:19 and picking up a bonus for his fast time. He signed up for the Dam tot Damloop in September 2010 and was a close runner-up to John Mwangangi, finishing a second behind his compatriot. He made only three appearances in 2011, running at the FBK Games, Prefontaine Classic and the World's Best 10K, but finished outside the top five on each occasion.
Edmund Morris
Biographer
Edmund Morris is an American writer best known for his biographies of United States Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
Micah Kogo
Olympic athlete
Micah Kemboi Kogo is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres. He is the former world record holder in the 10 kilometres road race event with a time of 27:01, and is the second fastest after countryman Leonard Komon. He made his first Olympic appearance in 2008, taking the 10,000 m bronze medal in Beijing.
Roger Chapman
Golfer
Roger M. Chapman is an English professional golfer who previously played on the European Tour and now plays on both the European Senior Tour and Champions Tour. He is a two time senior major champion, having won the 2012 Senior PGA Championship and the 2012 U.S. Senior Open. Chapman was born in Nakuru, Kenya. He won the English Amateur in 1979 and represented Great Britain & Ireland in the 1981 Walker Cup, beating Hal Sutton twice in one day. Chapman turned professional later that year and won a European Tour card on his first visit to the Qualifying School. He finished in the top 100 on the European Order of Merit 19 years out of 21 from 1982 to 2002, with a best ranking of 17th in 1988. After six second place finishes on the tour he finally won the 2000 Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open on his 472nd tour start. He also won the 1988 Zimbabwe Open on the Sunshine Tour. Chapman won the Hassan II Golf Trophy in Morocco in 2000. Chapman represented England in the 2000 Alfred Dunhill Cup. In May 2012, Chapman won the Senior PGA Championship, one of the five senior major championships for his maiden victory on the Champions Tour. After holding a five stroke lead entering the final round, he prevailed by two over American John Cook. He won his second senior major in July 2012 at the U.S. Senior Open. He won by two strokes over Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, and Corey Pavin.
Yusuf Saad Kamel
Olympic athlete
Yusuf Saad Kamel, born Gregory Konchellah, was the 2009 world champion at 1500 meters, representing Bahrain after his switch from Kenya. He specializes in the 1500 metres and 800 metres. He was born in Narok, Kenya. He trains with PACE Sports Management and is coached by Ricky Simms. He is the son of former two-time 800 metres World Champion Billy Konchellah. In 2009 he stopped competing for Bahrain claiming unpaid salary and bonuses. He was willing to compete for Kenya, but his Kenyan passport is held by Bahraini officials. Without a passport, he was unable to compete in any competition. Several other Kenyan runners who took Bahraini citizenship have also left Bahrain and are vying to compete for Kenya. However, he returned to the track in July 2009 at the Athletissima meeting, still representing Bahrain. Subsequently, Athletics Kenya stopped to handle his attempt to compete for Kenya. Running for Bahrain, Kamel won the gold in the 1500 m and bronze in 800 m at the 2009 World Athletics Championships held in Berlin. At the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu he only participated at the 1500 m but just failed to qualify for the final.
Kiran Shah
Actor
Kiran Shah is an actor and a stuntman. Shah was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He lived in Kenya until he was twelve years old, when he moved to India with his family. While living in India, he became interested in films, and when his family moved to London, he became involved in the show business. His first film was the 1977 movie Candleshoe, as a stand-in for a girl called Sara Tamakuni, and when stunt coordinator Bob Anderson asked him to do her stunts as well, his career was started. Kiran is often confused with Deep Roy; they are both dwarf Kenyan actors of Indian descent who got their starts in film and television in the late 70s.
Sut Jhally
Professor
Sut Jhally is a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose work focuses on cultural studies, advertising, media, and consumption. He is the producer of 40+ documentaries on media literacy topics and the founder and executive director of the Media Education Foundation. The Media Education Foundation is a non-profit established in 1992 which "produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media." Their aim is to inspire students to think critically and in new ways about the hyper-mediated world around them. Also the author of 6 books and numerous scholarly and popular articles, Jhally is a public speaker and teacher. He has won the "Distinguished Teacher Award" at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where the student newspaper has also voted him "Best Professor." He has shown his films and lectured at many colleges and universities nationally and internationally. He was named one of New Woman magazine's "People of the Year" in 1992. Jhally was born in Kenya, and raised in England. After completing his undergraduate work at the University of York in England, he moved to Canada after accepting a scholarship to the University of Victoria. He continued his studies at Simon Fraser University, where he received his PhD
Zena Marshall
Actor
Zena Moyra Marshall was a British actress of film and television. She attended St Mary's, Ascot and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She worked with Ensa during the Second World War. Marshall's film career began with a small role in Caesar and Cleopatra, with Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh. Her exotic looks resulted in her being cast in "ethnic" roles, such as Asian women, including her role as the Chinese character Miss Taro, in the first James Bond film, Dr. No. Marshall appeared in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines as the Countess Ponticelli. Her last film credit in 1971. She also made numerous television appearances.
Binyavanga Wainaina
Author
Binyavanga Wainaina is a Kenyan author, journalist and winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing.
Isabellah Andersson
Olympic Road runner
Isabellah Andersson is a Swedish - Kenyan distance runner. She resides in Vilshult in Sweden, and since May 2009 is a Swedish citizen. She competes for the club Hässelby SK. Andersson became the new Swedish record holder in marathon 22 January 2010 when she was fifth in the Dubai Marathon on time 2:26:52. On 31 October 2010 she finished fourth in Frankfurt Marathon in 2:25.10 hours, thus setting a new national record. She has won Stockholm marathon four times in a row. She ran at the 2011 Dubai Marathon and came third, improving her record time to 2:23:41 hours. She originally came to Sweden to learn more about the sport Foot orienteering and ended up meeting her husband Lars Andersson, a Foot orienteering enthusiast and competitor. They married in October 2006 and have a daughter named Beyoncé, after the American singer.
Steve Tikolo
Cricket Bowler
Stephen Ogonji Tikolo is a former Kenya cricketer. Tikolo is widely regarded as the best Kenyan cricket player ever, having scored the most runs and taken the second most wickets for the team in ODI's.
Jaidev
Film score Artist
Jaidev Hindi:जयदेव वर्मा, was a music composer in Bollywood films, most known for his work in films: Hum Dono, Reshma Aur Shera, Prem Parbat and Gharonda. He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction, three times for Reshma Aur Shera, Gaman and Ankahee.
Joseph Keter
Olympic athlete
Joseph Keter is a former Kenyan athlete, winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Born in Lessos, Nandi District, Joseph Keter, an officer of Kenyan Army, had only one good season throughout his athletics career, which culminated with an Olympic gold medal. In Atlanta, the hot favourite to 3000 m steeplechase gold medal was a world record holder Moses Kiptanui. But in the Olympic final, Kiptanui was strongly challenged by his Armed Forces' colleague Keter. The Kenyan pair reached the final water jump side by side, but then Keter slowly edged ahead to win the gold medal by 1.11 seconds. After the Olympic Games, Keter beat Kiptanui again in Zürich, running his personal best 8.05.99. After that glorious season, Keter kept running for some seasons and won the IAAF Grand Prix in 3000 m steeplechase in 1997.
Willy Mutunga
Judge
Willy Munyoki Mutunga is a Kenyan lawyer, intellectual, reform activist, and, since June 2011, the Chief Justice of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.
Curtis Osano
Soccer Defender
Curtis Osano is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defender for Indian I-League side Bengaluru FC.
Martha Karua
Politician
Martha Wangari Karua is a Kenyan politician. She is a member of parliament for Gichugu Constituency and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She was Minister of Justice until resigning from that position in April 2009.
Edith Masai
Olympic athlete
Edith Chewangel Masai is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country and track races, then road races in her late career. She represented Kenya at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her best achievements are three individual gold medals in the short race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships between 2002 and 2004. She is also known for reaching global top at the age of 35. On the track she was the bronze medallist over 5000 metres at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and was the 2006 African Champion over 10,000 metres. She has also won silver medals over 10,000 m at the 2007 All-Africa Games and 5000 m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Her track best of 8:23.23 minutes for the 3000 metres, set in 2002, remains the African record for the event. Over the marathon distance, she ran her career best of 2:27:06 hours to win the 2005 Hamburg Marathon.
Mary Jepkosgei Keitany
Olympic athlete
Mary Jepkosgei Keitany is a runner from Kenya who specialises in long distance running up to the marathon distance. She won silver at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships and became the World Half Marathon champion two years later. She won the 2012 London Marathon with a personal best of 2:18:37 hours – making her the third fastest woman ever in the event. Her personal best of 1:05:50 in the half marathon is the current women's world record. She also holds the world record in the women's 10 miles, 20 km, and the 25 km.
Richard Limo
Athlete
Richard Kipkemei Limo is a Kenyan athlete. He specializes in long distance track events. He won the 5000 metres gold medal at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He was born in 1980 in Cheptigit village, Uasin Gishu District. After primary school he went to polytechnic and received a grade in electrical wiring in 1996. He did not start running until 1997 when he joined a training camp located near his home. The next year he won silver medal at the junior race of World Cross Country Championships. The same year he broke the world junior record at 3000 metres, by running in 7:36.76 minutes, but missed the World Junior Championships. He won the Cross Zornotza in 1999 and the Trofeo Alasport cross country meeting in 2002. In 2001 he became world champion and was world's best performer of the year at 5000 metres with his time 12:56.72, which remains his personal record. Since 2004 he has not been much in the limelight, but has since switched to marathon racing. He won the Giro Media Blenio 10K in 2004. He was the runner-up in the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon, his debut where he consequently set a new personal best. He won his first marathon race in 2010, running a time of 2:09:56 for victory at the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon. He slowed to a halt just before the finish line in celebration of his first win over the distance. He finished the 2011 Reims Marathon in third place, finishing behind debutant Demessew Tsega.
Arnold Origi
Footballer
Arnold Origi Otieno is a Kenyan football goalkeeper who currently plays for Lillestrøm in Norway.
Allan Wanga
Footballer
Allan Wetende Wanga is a Kenyan footballer who currently plays for A.F.C. Leopards in the Tusker Premier League as a striker. His dream of playing in the UEFA Europa League was not realised with Azerbaijan Premier League side FC Baku, as he failed to obtain a work permit after working out a 2-year contract with the club, which ended on 31 December 2009.
Jenny Funnell
Actor
Jenny Funnell is a British actress best known for her role as Sandy in the British sitcom As Time Goes By. Funnell was born in Kenya, then still a British colony, and has a twin sister. She moved to Britain when she was four years old, and initially started voice acting in radio drama while still a student at drama school, winning the Carleton Hobbs BBC Radio Drama Award in 1984. Her earliest television work was also in drama, including the British soap opera Brookside in 1985, the BBC police series Bergerac in 1988, and the episode "Peril at End House" in Series 2 of Agatha Christie's Poirot, on ITV in 1990. Funnell started taking on comedy parts in 1989, with an appearance in the comedy/drama Boon on ITV and a role in the television movie Norbert Smith: A Life. Other comedy roles for TV have included a guest appearance in the Channel 4 newsroom sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey and the romantic comedy Love Soup. She later did guest appearances in the ITV hospital drama The Royal, played two separate parts in the BBC's medical drama Doctors, and appeared in the ITV police series The Bill. She and her husband and daughter live in England.
Calestous Juma
Professor
Calestous Juma is an internationally recognized authority in the application of science and technology to sustainable development worldwide. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012 by the New African magazine. He is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma is Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His latest book, The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa was published by Oxford University Press in 2011. In recognition of his work, Juma has been elected to the Royal Society of London, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the The World Academy of Sciences, the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, the African Academy of Sciences and the New York Academy of Sciences. In 2012 Juma was named by the New Africa magazine as one of Africa's most influential 100 people. Juma grew up on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria where he obtained early education. He first worked as an elementary school teacher before becoming Africa's first science and environment journalist at Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper. Juma later joined the Nairobi-based Environment Liaison Centre International as a founder and editor of trilingual quarterly magazine, Ecoforum. He later received an MSc in Science, Technology and Industrialization and a DPhil in Science and Technology Policy from the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. He has written widely on science, technology and sustainable development.
Abel Mutai
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Abel Kiprop Mutai is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Nandi. He won the gold medal at the 2005 World Youth Championships and finished ninth at the 2009 World Athletics Final. His personal best times are 8:05.16 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in June 2006 in Lisbon; and 8:11.40 minutes in the 3000 metres steeplechase, achieved in July 2006 in Athens. His best success is bronze medal at 2012 Summer olympics. His time was 8:19.73 minutes.
Sally Kipyego
Olympic Track and field Athlete
Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego is a Kenyan long- and middle-distance runner. She was the silver medallist in the 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the silver medalist in the same race at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. She has a personal record of 30:38.35 minutes for that event and her 5000 metres best of 14:30.42 minutes makes her the second fastest Kenyan woman for the distance. She competed as part of the Texas Tech Red Raiders cross country and track and field teams under coach Wes Kittley. She became the first Kenyan woman to win a NCAA cross country individual championship, the first woman to win three consecutive NCAA Division I Cross Country titles, and the first runner to win three consecutive Big 12 Conference cross country titles. She also won three straight NCAA Indoor titles over 5000 m and was a two-time NCAA Outdoor champion. She is tied with Suzy Favor-Hamilton for the most individual championships in NCAA history. Kipyego won more individual NCAA championships in 2 years than any other runner in NCAA history. Academically, Kipyego earned a nursing degree. She runs professionally on the International Association of Athletics Federations' World Athletics Tour. She is sponsored by Nike, Inc.
Wilfred Bungei
Olympic athlete
Wilfred Kipkemboi Bungei is a Kenyan retired middle distance runner, who won the 800 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also won at the World indoor Championships in Moscow 2006 the 800 metres title, defeating Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Olympic Champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy in the course of the race. Bungei was ranked No.1 in the world over 800 m in 2002 and 2003. He has a personal best of 1:42.34 minutes, thus being currently the seventh fastest runner in the history of the event. At the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton he won a silver medal over 800 m, finishing behind Andre Bucher. While in school, he focused on sprints and decathlon, before concentrating on 800 metres running. He graduated from Samoei High School in 1998. At the 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal. Bungei represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Bungei is from Kabirirsang, a village near Kapsabet. Several of his relatives are runners, including his brother Sammy Kurgat, who won the 2008 Cologne Marathon. He is a second cousin to Kenyan-born Danish former athlete Wilson Kipketer, while his mum is a cousin of Henry Rono.
John Ngugi
Olympic athlete
John Ngugi Kamau, is a former Kenyan athlete, often called one of the greatest cross country runners of all time and winner of the 5000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Benjamin Limo
Athlete
Benjamin Kipkoech Limo is a Kenyan middle distance runner. He runs every distance from 1500 m to 10,000 m, but mainly competes in 5,000 m, where he has won international medals. Limo went to Chebara and Lelboinet High Schools, but enlisted for the Kenyan Army in 1993, without completing his studies. He started full-time training in 1996 and was based at an army camp in Ngong, near capital Nairobi. He competed at the 1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Marrakech, Morocco and finished fourth in the short race. It was his first race abroad. His first international medals came in 1999, when he won the 1999 World Cross Country Championships and placed second in the 5,000 m at the World Championships, less than a second behind Salah Hissou. Remindfully, notice that this happened a year after he ran his first 5,000 m. In 2002, Limo won silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and at the African Championships. In August 2005 he outsprinted Sileshi Sihine to become world champion. He won a bronze medal in the 5000m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Benjamin Limo has never participated in the Olympic Games, due to the rule which allows only three athletes from each nation to participate. His nation Kenya having an abundance of good middle distance runners, it is extremely difficult to qualify.