KDF fetes Jepkosgei after London Marathon show

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has promoted Joyciline Jepkosgei from the rank of Corporal to that of Sergeant after a second-place finish at the London Marathon on Sunday.

The ceremony held at the KDF headquarters was led by Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi and witnessed by other senior officials including; Commander Kenya Army Lieutenant General Peter Njiru, Assistant Chief of Defence Forces in charge of Personnel and Logistics Major General Muthuri Kiugu, Colonel Physical Readiness and Sports Defence Headquarters Colonel Benjamin Kiprop and the Defence Forces Sergeant Major WOI Elijah Koranga.

Jepkosgei who was defending her title in London clocked 2:18:07 to finish second behind Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia who won the race in 2:17:25

The 28-year-old's major breakthrough took place in 2019 when she won both the half marathon and marathon in New York City in a time of 1:10:07 and 2:22:38 respectively.

Two years later, she followed the win with another gold medal at the 2021 London Marathon, improving on her earlier time in New York with five minutes less, registering a time of 2:17:43.

At the Prague Half Marathon in 2017, Sergeant Jepkosgei represented Kenya and became the first woman to break 65 minutes for the half marathon with her 64:52 world record 13.1-mile.

In 2016, she won a bronze medal in the African Championships in Durban, South Africa and a silver medal in the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, Spain.