Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (born 30 November 1989) is a Kenyan

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 competes in 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 ...

. He has a personal best of 1:42.54 minutes for the event. He represented Kenya at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

and was a gold medallist in the 4×800 metres relay at the

2014 IAAF World Relays The 2014 IAAF World Relays were held in May 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau, the Bahamas, Bahamas. The event was the first edition of the IAAF World Relays. There were five events for each gender. In men's and women's 4 × 100 metres and 4 × 400 ...

. At the

2020 Summer 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 ...

, he won the silver medal, finishing behind his countryman Emmanuel Korir.

Career

A relative late-comer to the sport, he made his first impact in the 2013 season at the age of 23. He won the 800 m at the Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar, setting a personal best of 1:45.40 minutes. In his first race in Europe, he went under one minute and 45 seconds for the first time to take fourth at the

Golden Spike Ostrava 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 ...

. He placed a narrow second to Anthony Chemut at the Kenyan trials in July, improving further to 1:44.38 minutes. This led to his selection for the

. At the competition, he progressed to the semi-final and initially placed fifth but was disqualified for a lane infringement. He ended the year with two performances on the 2013 IAAF Diamond League circuit, coming third at both the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich () is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it ...

and the

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 ...

. The latter race was the fastest in the year, and Rotich's time of 1:43.22 minutes ranked him as the third fastest in the world that season, making it a rapid rise for the athlete who was unranked in 2012. At the first meet of the

2014 IAAF Diamond League The 2014 IAAF Diamond League was the fifth edition of the annual Diamond League. It consisted of fourteen one-day track and field meetings, starting on May 9, 2014, in Doha, Qatar and ending on September 5, 2014, in Brussels, Belgium. Other events ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, he came third. He was chosen for the 4×800 metres relay team (alongside Sammy Kibet Kirongo, Job Koech Kinyor and Alfred Kipketer) at the inaugural

event and leading off for Kenya he helped the team to the gold medal.Report: Men's 4x800m – Nassau 2014
IAAF (24 May 2014). Retrieved on 2014-05-31. At the 2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials, Rotich shocked world record holder

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, State Commendations of Kenya, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a retired Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who is the world and Olympic record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha won gold medals in the 800 ...

in the

, beating him by almost half a second to qualify for the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

International competition record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotich, Ferguson Cheruiyot Living people 1989 births Kenyan male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships winners Sportspeople from Kericho County Diamond League winners Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Kenya 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen