General Kibochi promotes 2022 London Marathon silver winner Joyciline Jepkosgei

Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi has promoted Joyciline Jepkosgei after she won the silver medal at the 2022 London Marathon.

According to a statement by the Kenya Defence Forces, Kibochi promoted Jepkosgei from corporal to sergeant.

Sergeants are second in command of a troop of up to 35 soldiers and are responsible for advising and assisting junior officers in a mission.

Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi has promoted Joyciline Jepkosgei after she won the silver medal at the 2022 London Marathon. Pulse Live Kenya

General Kibochi congratulated Sergeant Jepkosgei for her good work in representing the country in major races and for improving on her timings which have seen her break multiple world records.

“We are very grateful for your continuous hard work and for representing Kenya and KDF well. We wish you the best as competing at such high levels requires a lot of hard work and determination. I am confident that you will continue doing better since you are still young,” he said.

She said the promotion was an honour, thanking the KDF for supporting soldiers who are also athletes.

Joyciline Jepkosgei after she won silver medal at the 2022 London Marathon Pulse Live Kenya

Sergeant Jepkosgei’s 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 the bronze medal in the African Championships in Durban South Africa and a silver medal in the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, Spain.