Ismael Kirui (born 20 February 1975 in Kapcherop, Marakwet District) is a former

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 long-distance runner who won gold medals over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi, Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from ...

. His victory in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

in 1993 was especially impressive as he was only aged eighteen and led the race from the front for most of the second half. On the final straight he shrugged off an attack from Haile Gebrselassie. His winning time of 13:02.75 minutes was a new World Championships record. He became the youngest world champion, aged 18 years 177 days. That same year he broke the World junior record in 5000 metres in Zurich by running 13:06.50. His

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in 1995 was won under very different circumstances as the final was run at a slow pace and decided in a sprint. Ismael Kirui is the younger brother of

Richard Chelimo Richard Chelimo (21 April 1972 – 15 August 2001) was a Kenyan long-distance runner, and a world record holder over 10,000 metres. However, he is best known as the silver medallist in the controversial 10,000m at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona ...

. Other relatives include brother William "Willy" Kirui, half-sister Catherine Kirui and cousins

Moses Kiptanui Moses Kiptanui (born 1 October 1970) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete mostly famous for 3000 metres steeplechase in which he was the number one ranked athlete from 1991 to 1995 and three time IAAF World Champion. Kiptanui was ...

and William Mutwol. He is married to Rose Cheruiyot. He and Cheruiyot completed an unusual married couple's double when they won the men's and women's races, respectively, at the Belfast International Cross Country in 1995. An accomplished road race runner, Kirui won three consecutive

Bay to Breakers Bay to Breakers is an annual road running, footrace in San Francisco, California typically on the third Sunday of May. The phrase "Bay to Breakers" reflects the fact that the race starts at the northeast end of the downtown area a few blocks fro ...

12K titles, from 1993 to 1995. His first victory in 33:42 set a world road record in that event.

References

External links

* * 1975 births Living people Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male cross country runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners {{Kenya-athletics-bio-stub