İlham Tanui Özbilen (born William Biwott Tanui on 5 March 1990 in Kocholwo,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

) is a

middle distance runner Middle Distance Runner was an American indie rock band from Washington, D.C. Middle Distance Runner was founded in 1998, but the band didn't play a live show until 2005, shortly before the release of their debut album. The group was an early succ ...

now representing

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The tall athlete weighs . He is coached by

Kenyan The Demographics of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census. A national census was conducted in 1999, although t ...

Patrick Sang.

Career in Kenya

Özbilen, then competing as William Biwott Tanui, won the 1500 metres at the 2009 World Athletics Final in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He holds the current world junior record in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

with his clocking of 3:49.29 minutes, achieved in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on 3 July 2009. He was also part of the Kenyan team (with Gideon Gathimba, Geoffrey Kipkoech Rono and Augustine Kiprono Choge) that set a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 14:36.23 in the rarely contested 4 x 1500 metres relay at the 2009

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

Golden League meeting in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Turkish citizenship

He switched allegiance to Turkey in June 2011, changing his name to İlham Tanui Özbilen. His surname was given him by his godfather and manager Önder Özbilen, who persuaded him in December 2010 in Kenya to immigrate to Turkey. He moved in February 2011 to Turkey, and was naturalized on 8 June 2011. While he would normally have been ineligible to internationally represent his adoptive country until 8 June 2013, it was announced in February 2012 that he had received permission from the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(IAAF) to compete for Turkey starting with the 2012 World Indoor Championships in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. İlham Tanui Özbilen won the silver medal for Turkey in the 1500 m event at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey. Özbilen also represented Turkey at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he made the final of the 1500 meters, finishing 8th, with a time of 3:36.72. At the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey. Mersin was announced as the host cit ...

held in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

, Turkey, he became gold medalist in the 1500 m event. At the

2013 Islamic Solidarity Games The 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games ( Indonesian: ''Pesta Olahraga Solidaritas Islam 2013'') was an international sporting event held in Palembang, Indonesia from 22 September to 1 October 2013. The 2009 event, originally scheduled to take place in ...

held in

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

, Indonesia, he won a gold medal in the 1500 m event, a bronze medal in the 800 m event and a silver medal in the 4x400 m relay event with his teammates Batuhan Altıntaş, Halit Kılıç and Mehmet Güzel. In 2015, Özbilen competed in the 1500 metres at the European Indoor Championships. He came second place with a time 3:37.74, behind Jakub Holuša, the national record holder in the 1500 metres for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

World records

* 4x1500 m relay: 14:36.23 minutes (2009,

)

International competitions

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozbilen, Ilham Tanui 1990 births Living people Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male middle-distance runners Turkish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey Kenyan emigrants to Turkey Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics IAAF World Athletics Final winners Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalists for Turkey 21st-century Turkish sportsmen 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen