Tegla Loroupe is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is the first African woman to win the New York City Marathon and holds many world records.
Tegla Loroupe was born in Kutomwony in the West Pokot District of Kenya. At the age of seven, she started to go to school. It was at school that her talent for running was noticed. However, few people supported her dream to become a runner except her mother and older sister. Still, Loroupe determined to continue her running because she wanted to realize her dream.
In 1994, Loroupe ran her first major marathon and became the first African woman to win the New York Marathon. She became an important sporting role model. After this great success, Tegla Loroupe went on to win many major marathons around the world between 1997 and 2002.
Between April 19, 1998 and September 30, 2001, Loroupe held the world record for the marathon. She set a time of 2:20:47 in the 1998 Rotterdam Marathon. In 1999, she broke her own record, setting a time of 2:20:43 in the Berlin Marathon.
In 2003, Loroupe founded the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation and has been an active advocate of peace. Loroupe said the aim of the organization was to use her fame to help bring about greater harmony. "I grew up in a place where life was really hard because of the local disagreements between the tribes(部落)," she said. "I was lucky. I had talent and was able to make a success out of running and I felt that I wanted to give things back to the community I grew up in."
