Kipchoge Keino

Kip Keino

Keino in 2014
Personal information
Full name Kipchoge Hezekieh Keino[1]
Born (1940-01-17) 17 January 1940[2]
Kipsamo, Nandi, Rift Valley, Kenya[1]
Height 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight 66 kg (146 lb)[1]
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Competitor for  Kenya
Olympic Games
1968 Mexico City 1500 metres
1972 Munich 3000 metres steeple
1968 Mexico City 5000 metres
1972 Munich 1500 metres
Commonwealth Games
1966 Kingston Mile
1966 Kingston 3 miles
1970 Edinburgh 1500 metres
1970 Edinburgh 5000 metres
All-Africa Games
1965 Brazzaville 1500 metres
1965 Brazzaville 5000 metres
1973 Lagos 1500 metres
Updated on 10 June 2015.

Kipchoge Hezekiah "Kip" Keino (born 17 January 1940), chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC), is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Kip Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2012, he was of one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall Of Fame.[3]

Early life

Keino was born in Kipsamo, Nandi District, Kenya. Both of his parents died while he was young. He was then brought up by his aunt. After finishing school, he joined the Kenya Police.[4] Before taking up athletics, he played rugby.[5]

Athletic career

He began his international career at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia where he came eleventh in the three miles. At the 1964 Summer Olympics he finished fifth in 5000 m and just missed qualification for the 1500 m final.

On 27 August 1965, Keino lowered the 3000 m world record by over 6 seconds to 7:39.6 in his first attempt at the distance. He won two gold medals (1500 & 5000 metres) at the inaugural All-Africa Games. Later in that year he broke the 5000 m world record held by Ron Clarke, clocking 13:24.2. At the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica he won both the mile run and three mile run. In the next Commonwealth Games, Keino won the 1500 metres and was third in the 5000 metres.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he won the 1500 metres gold medal (defeating American favourite and world record holder Jim Ryun by 20 meters, the largest winning margin in the history of the event)[6] and 5000 m silver medal. Four years later, he won the 3000 metres steeplechase gold and 1500 metres silver at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He retired in 1973.[4] He is on the cover of the October 1968 issue of Track and Field News, the first issue following the Olympics.[7] He shared the cover of the September 1969 issue with Naftali Bon.[8]

After athletics

In 1987, he shared Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Year" award with seven others, characterized as "Athletes Who Care", for his work with orphans.

Currently, Keino lives on a farm in Western Kenya where he controls and runs a charitable organization for orphans, and is president of the Kenyan Olympic Committee. He is married to Phyllis Keino. One son Martin was a two-time NCAA champion and highly successful pace-setter.

He has built KipKeino Primary School located near Eldoret, while Kip Keino Secondary School opened in 2009; the International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge was present at the opening ceremony. Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret is named after him.[4]

In 1996, he was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

In 2007, he was made an honorary Doctor of Law by the University of Bristol.[9] Earlier, Egerton University in Nakuru had awarded him an honorary degree. In July 2012 he received further recognition from the City of Bristol after the Kenyan Olympic Committee, under his presidency, made Bristol the training base for its athletes in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics. The Bristol City Council awarded him freedom of the City, making him the first to receive this honour from Bristol since Sir Winston Churchill[4] His name, Kipchoge, is a Nandi language expression for "born near the grain storage shed".[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Kip Keino". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Kipchoge Keino". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "IAAF Hall Of Fame". Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Daily Nation, 27 August 2007: Legendary runner with a heart of gold.
  5. ↑ Daily Nation, 23 April 2009: Kip roots for 'Olympic Sevens'
  6. ↑ Kipchoge Keino "CNN.com" 23 June 2004
  7. ↑ https://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/28-covers/137-past-covers-1967
  8. ↑ https://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/28-covers/136-past-covers-1967
  9. ↑ University of Bristol, 17 July 2007: Honorary degrees awarded today
  10. ↑ IAAF, 9 March 2006: Focus on Africa - Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)

External links

Records
Preceded by
East Germany Siegfried Herrmann		 Men's 3000 m World Record Holder
27 August 1965 – 14 September 1972 		Succeeded by
Belgium Emiel Puttemans
Sporting positions
Preceded by
United States Bob Schul		 Men's 5000 m Best Year Performance
1965 		Succeeded by
Australia Ron Clarke


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