Ghribi began her career as a
cross country runner and competed in the junior race at the
2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships at the age of fifteen, finishing in 46th place (the second best of the Tunisian team). She competed in the senior short race in
2002, finishing in 76th. Ghribi competed at the
2002 African Championships in Athletics in
Radès, Tunisia and ended up in 11th place in the
5000 metres final. Ghribi won the gold in the junior race at the 2002
Pan Arab Cross Country Championships. She also went back to the junior race in
2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, improving to 23rd place and heading the Tunisian team to 7th place overall. After modest finishes in the World Cross Country short race in the 2004 and 2005, she switched to focus on the 3000 m steeplechase on the track instead when it became a world championship event. Ghribi took part in her first
World Championships in Athletics at the
2005 Helsinki Championships and finished eighth in her heat, not managing to qualify for the
women's final but setting a personal best and
Tunisian record of 9:51.49 nevertheless. She gained her first major medal in the event the following year, taking the silver medal at the
2006 African Championships in Athletics behind world medallist
Jeruto Kiptum Ghribi's next major competition was the
2008 Beijing Olympics. This was the first time that the Olympics had held a women's steeplechase competition and she greatly improved her record to 9:25.50 in the
Olympic heats, but was a little slower in the final and finished 13th overall. Ghribi competed at a number of major events in 2009, starting with her first ever long race at the
2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she finished in 41st place. After this she ran in the
1500 metres at the
2009 Mediterranean Games and achieved a personal best of 4:12.37 on her way to a bronze medal. She made her second world steeplechase appearance at the
2009 World Championships in Athletics and further improved her best by a significant amount in the
World final. Her time of 9:12.52 took her up to sixth place. Ghribi closed the year with a performance at the
2009 IAAF World Athletics Final results, but she failed to finish the race. In recognition of her achievements in 2009, Ghribi topped a poll organised by the
Arabic language daily
Assahafa and was named as the "Best Sportswoman in 2009" in Tunisia. In September 2015 she ran a personal best, Tunisian national record, African record and the 4th fastest time ever of 9:05.36 at the
Memorial van Damme in
Brussels,
Belgium. In June 2016, Ghribi was officially named the 2012 Olympic champion in the
women's 3000 m steeplechase, several months after the original gold medalist,
Yuliya Zaripova of Russia, was disqualified due to a doping violation. As of December 2016, Ghribi was considering legal action to recover at least $38,000 in prize money that Zaripova had received at events from which she was later disqualified. ==Personal bests==