Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (born 30 November 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who competes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( 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 an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

. He has a personal best of 1:42.54 minutes for the event. He represented Kenya at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics 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. 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 x 100 metres and 4 x 400 metres, the event served as a ...

. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, 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 ( cz, Zlatá tretra) 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 interru ...

. He placed a narrow second to

Anthony Chemut Anthony Chemut (born 17 December 1992) is a Kenyan middle distance runner that specialises in the 800 metres. He was part of the Kenyan team for the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympi ...

at the Kenyan trials in July, improving further to 1:44.38 minutes. This led to his selection for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. 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 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 is now the final event of the Diamond ...

. 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 we ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') 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, it is home to most of the c ...

, he came third. He was chosen for the 4×800 metres relay team (alongside

Sammy Kibet Kirongo Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music *Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter * Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter *Sammy Davis Jr. ...

Job Koech Kinyor Job Koech Kinyor (born 2 September 1990) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. His personal best for the distance is 1:43.76 minutes. He was a bronze medallist at the 2011 and 2015 All-Africa Games, and he was part o ...

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 The 2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials the athletics meeting held by Athletics Kenya to select the representatives to the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China The meet was held July 31 to August 1, 2015 in Nyayo Natio ...

, Rotich shocked world record holder

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from ...

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 People from Kericho County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province 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