Vivian Cheruiyot

Cheruiyot's small, quick-cadenced stride won four world track titles, including the 2011 5,000m and 10,000m double, and Olympic 5,000m gold in Rio at 32. Rather than retire, she turned to the marathon and within two years had won London in 2018, out-pacing a field that had gone off far too fast. That win was a lesson in patience a track kicker learned quickly, and it made her one of the most complete Kenyan distance runners of her era.