Margaret Nyairera Wambui (born 15 September 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres.[2]

Margaret Nyairera Wambui
Wambui at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Born (1995-09-15) 15 September 1995 (age 29)
Nyeri, Kenya[1]
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event800 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1:56.89 (outdoors, 2016)
2:00.44 (indoors, 2016)
Medal record
Representing  Kenya
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 800 m
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Portland 800 m
African Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Durban 400 m
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Durban 4x400 m relay

In her first international competition, she won the gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships.[3][4] She later competed at the 2015 World Championships without advancing from her heat. At the 2016 World Indoor Championships she won the bronze medal.[5] That same year she competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics, setting a new personal best of 1:56.89 in the final, which also earned her a bronze.[6]

In 2019, it was revealed that Wambui was born with the 46,XY karyotype and an intersex condition after her qualification for IAAF women's competition was affected by the association's new regulations for athletes with XY disorders of sex development, testosterone levels above 5 nmol/L, and androgen sensitivity.[7][8]

She was one of the athletes whose cases were profiled in Phyllis Ellis's 2022 documentary film Category: Woman.[9]

Competition record

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Kenya
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 1st 800 m 2:00.49
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 39th (h) 800 m 2:03.52
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, United States 3rd 800 m 2:00.44
African Championships Durban, South Africa 2nd 400 m 52.24
3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:30.21
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3rd 800 m 1:56.89
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 4th 800 m 1:57.54
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 800 m DQ
Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 2nd 800 m 1:58.07
African Championships Asaba, Nigeria 7th (h) 800 m 2:02.801

1Did not finish in the final

References

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  1. ^ "2018 CWG bio". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  2. ^ Margaret Wambui at World Athletics  
  3. ^ Janeiro, Bismarck Mutahi in Rio de. "Kenya's hope: Nyairera only Kenyan in 800m final as hunt for more medals continue". Standard Digital News. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Kenya's Margaret Nyairera Wambui runs a lifetime best to win women's 800: IAAF Junior World Championships 2014". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Results - 800 Metres Women - Final" (PDF). 17 March 2016.
  6. ^ "IAAF: 800 Metres Result | The XXXI Olympic Games | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  7. ^ Francis, Anne (22 May 2019). "Olympic 800m bronze medallist Margaret Wambui banned from Stockholm Diamond League". Running. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Executive Summary" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  9. ^ Elisabetta Bianchini, "'Category: Woman' documentary calls out the human rights violation of defining a woman in sports". Yahoo! News, May 9, 2022.
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