Abel Kipsang Bele (born 22 November 1996) is a

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 ...

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who specializes in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. He placed fourth in the event at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Kipsang won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Career

Abel Kipsang gained his first experience at international championships at the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games (), also known as Rabat 2019 (), were held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in Janua ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

, where he finished fourth over the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

in a time of 1:45.43 minutes. Coached by Alex sang former 800m (1.45:13) He set a personal best in the

of 3:32.6 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 9 June 2021, before finishing third on 19 June at the Kenyan Olympic trials to secure his place at the delayed

. His mark from Marseille placed him in the top 10 worldwide. At the Tokyo Games on 5 August, Kipsang set a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

in the semifinals of the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

with a time of 3:31.65, further improving his personal best. This record was later broken by

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track Mile run, mile, 2000 ...

who ran 3:28.32 in the final, where Kipsang set a new personal best of 3:29.56 for fourth.

Timothy Cheruiyot Timothy Cheruiyot (born 20 November 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and the 11th fastest athlete all time over the distance. At the World Athle ...

clinched silver in 3:29.01 while Josh Kerr was third clocking 3:29.05. In 2022, he became World Indoor Championship bronze medallist in

, setting a personal best of 3:33.36 and finishing behind Samuel Tefera (3:32.77) and Ingebrigtsen (3:33.02). Selected for the 1500m at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

, he qualified for the final, in which he finished fourth overall. In March 2024, he was a bronze medalist over 1500 metres at the delayed

2023 African Games The 13th African Games, also known as Accra 2023, were hosted by Ghana from 8–23 March 2024. Despite having Accra as the main host city, the games were held in two sub-host cities: Kumasi and Cape Coast. The games were initially planned to be ...

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. He won the 1500 metres at the

Kip Keino Classic The Kip Keino Classic is a track and field meeting held at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya and named after Olympian Kipchoge Keino. The inaugural edition took place in 2020 as part of the inaugural World Athletics Continental Tour The W ...

in Nairobi on 31 May 2025.

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipsang, Abel 1996 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games African Games bronze medalists for Kenya African Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists African Championships in Athletics winners Diamond League winners 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen