Multiple Olympic and world champion Beatrice Chebet has been conferred an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Kabianga.
Chebet, who holds both the Olympics and world titles in 5,000 metres and 10,000m, as well as the world record over the two distances, was conferred with Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) at the university grounds in Kericho County on Friday.
The award of the honorary doctorate comes a week after the 24-year-old missed out on the final short-list of 12 contestants for the award of 2025 Female Athlete of the Year awards run by World Athletics.
University of Kabianga Vice Chancellor Prof Erick Koech conferred the honorary degree on Chebet during the university’s 13th graduation ceremony.
The university described Chebet as “a role model, and a mentor to many who have interacted with her physically or read her story in the media.”
“I am elated to have been recognized and honoured with a doctorate by the University of Kabianga, which is situated in an area where I horned my athletics skills,” Chebet told Nation Sport after the ceremony.
“The conferment of the honorary doctorate gives me further inspiration in my career, it is a higher pedestal from which I can continue mentoring others in the society to achieve their goals.”
She noted that the South Rift region is teeming with athletics talent which require support from all stakeholders to attain full potential.
Chebet’s husband and coach, Peter Bii, her mother Lilian Kirui, her grandmother Pauline Langat, and her mother-in-law Grace Rugut attended the ceremony where she was honoured along with other graduands.
Dressed in a black trouser suit, Chebet got a standing ovation as she was escorted to the dais by Dr Benedicta Tabot, the Dean of School of Education and Humanities at the university, and Dr Cecilia Sang, the Registrar Academic Affairs, to be conferred with the honorary doctorate.
“Her story promotes the values of resilience, hard work, team work, professionalism and patriotism,” the university said in her citation.
Beatrice Chebet after being bestowed with an honorary doctorate at the University of Kabianga in Kericho County on November 14, 2025. PHOTO BY VITALIS KIMUTAI
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Chebet described the conferment of the honorary doctorate on her as a humbling experience in her professional and private life.
“I am humbled to be counted among great men and women who have received this award from the University of Kabianga,” Chebet said.
“This achievement would not have been possible without all those who have supported me along the way in my career. I dedicate this to all those who believe in vision, perseverance and service to humanity,” she said.
Fellow athletes, Mercy Cherono, Sheila Chepkirui and Winny Chebet were among friends who attended the ceremony on Friday.
“This is a great day for Chebet and the athletics fraternity in Kenya for the recognition of her achievement in her sports career,” Cherono said.
Chebet, who was born in Katet village in Londiani, Kipkelion East Constituency of Kericho County, attended Saramek Primary School and Saramek Secondary School in Kericho. It is while in secondary school that Chebet's athletics talent bloomed with great support from grandmother.
Chebet started her professional career in 2016 at Lemotit Athletics Camp in Kericho. Her major breakthrough come at the 2018 World Athletics Under-20 Championship in Tampere, Finland, where she won the women’s 5,000m title.
At the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Chebet won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles, becoming the first woman to hold both Olympics and world titles in the two races at the same time.
Chebet, who is a police officer, broke the 5,000m world record when she timed 13:58.06 during the Kenyan trials for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on July 5, 2025. She became the first woman to run the distance in less than 14 minutes.
Last year, Chebet also set a new world record in 10,000m of 28:54.14 during the Kenyan trials held in Eugene, ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games. She made history by becoming the first woman to run the distance in under 29 minutes.
On December 31, 2023, Chebet set a new women-only 5km world record of 14:13 at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona, which was faster than both the previous women-only world record of 14:29, and the mixed world record of 14:19 set in 2021.
Then on December 31, 2024 at the Cursa dels Nassos, she broke Agnes Jebet’s mixed 5km world record of 14:13, running 13:54, becoming the first woman to break the 14-minute barrier on any surface. In 2024, she won the two titles at the 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris.
