Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich (born 26 June 1993) is a

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. ...

n-born

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

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 ...

. Rotich won 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 ...

at the 2012

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

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Career

2012

Rotich opened his 2012 season at the

Ostrava Golden Spike Golden Spike () is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interrupted in 1999, whe ...

meeting on 25 May, placing third in the 800 metres in 1:45.52. He then improved to 1:44.46 in

Rehlingen Rehlingen is a municipality in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the ...

three days later; both times were inside the Olympic qualification standards. However, he only placed fourth at the 2012 Kenyan Olympic trials, missing out on an Olympic berth as the top three were selected. He then clocked a new personal best of 1:43.62 at

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on 5 July. He improved further to 1:43.15 two days later at the

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total area is 53.23 ...

Night of Athletics, breaking the Kenyan

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

record previously held by 2011 World Youth Champion Leonard Kosencha. Only two other athletes had run faster in 2012. Nevertheless, Rotich said he wasn't satisfied with the time. Rotich made his

debut on 20 July at

. He won the race in another new personal best of 1:43.13, beating Kosencha in a close finish. The field also included

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Duane Solomon Duane Renard Solomon (born December 28, 1984) is a retired American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for racing the 800 meters. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic Gam ...

, who went on to place fourth at the Olympics three weeks later, and

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's 2011 World Championship silver medallist

Abubaker Kaki Abubaker Kaki Khamis (; born 21 June 1989) is a Sudanese runner who specialises in the 800 metres. He is a two-time World Indoor Champion over the distance and also won gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. He represented Sudan at the 2008 and 201 ...

. Rotich made another Diamond League appearance four weeks later at the

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DN Galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...

, placing third behind

Mohammed Aman Mohammed Aman Geleto (Amharic: መሀመድ አማን; born 10 January 1994) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. Born in Asella, he is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in M ...

and

Taoufik Makhloufi Taoufik Makhloufi (; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in th ...

. In his last race in 2012, he beat Olympic bronze medallist

Timothy Kitum Timothy Kitum (born 20 November 1994) is a Kenyan middle distance runner. He also won Commonwealth Youth Games 800m with a Games Record 1.49.32 He won a silver medal in the 800 m at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, ...

over 1000 metres at

Dubnica nad Váhom Dubnica nad Váhom (; Slovak before 1927: ''Dubnica'', , , before 1899 ''Dubnic(z)'') is a town in the Ilava District, Trenčín Region in Slovakia. Geography It is located on the Váh river, in the Ilava Basin, between the White Carpathians and ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

'' ranked Rotich #6 in the world at 800 m.

Doping violation and ban

In 2021, Rotich was issued with a four year competition ban for a doping violation due to the use of 19-noretiocholanolone and Norandrosterone.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotich, Abraham Kipchirchir 1993 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Bahraini male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Bahrain Asian Games athletes for Bahrain Asian Athletics Championships winners West Asian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen