Lonah Chemtai

Lonah Korlima Chemtai (born December 12, 1988) is a Kenyan-Israeli runner. She competed in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chemtai was born in Kenya, a member of the tribe of Kalenjin, and grew up in a village in West Pokot County in western Kenya. She came to Israel in 2008, as a nanny for the children of Kenya's Ambassador to Israel.

Chemtai met Israeli running coach Dan Salpeter, and the two fell in love, and married in 2014. The couple's son, Roy, was born in December 2014. The family lives in moshav Yanuv, in central Israel. Chemtai was granted Israeli citizenship in March 2016, eight years after she began living in Israel, a few days before the cut-off to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.

Her husband is also her coach. In her youth she ran shorter distances, and she began running the marathon only after 2014.

Chemtai came in first among the women in the 2016 Tel Aviv Marathon in 2:40:16, almost five minutes below the qualification time for the 2016 Olympics.

Chemtai competed for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the marathon. By the 30th kilometer, her time put her in the top half of the runners, ranking her approximately 90th. She left the race at the 33rd kilometer. She explained on Facebook: “Unfortunately, I was forced to stop by a shoulder problem. As you all know, I’m still nursing my 20-month-old son. During my training in Kenya, I tried to stop, but it caused me pain and a shoulder problem due to running with breasts full of milk. This limited me in the European championships in Amsterdam (a half-marathon) and happened again today. I promise to attain respectable achievements in the future and am going forward with head held high.”