Matthew Kiprotich Birir (born 5 July 1972) is a former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

from

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. ...

and a winner of the 3000 m steeplechase at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Biography

Born in

Eldama Ravine Eldama Ravine (sometimes known by the short form E/Ravine) is a town in Baringo County, Kenya, a few miles north of the equator, geographical coordinates 0° 30' 0" North, 35° 43' 0" East. It was established as an administrative point by Briti ...

, Matthew Birir started running, when he attended the famous St. Patrick's High School in

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya and serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) awarded the town with a plaque recognising Iten as a Wo ...

, which has produced many great Kenyan runners.

Career

At the

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Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, the main favourite was

Patrick Sang Patrick Sang (born 11 April 1964) is a Kenyan running coach and retired steeplechase runner. Sang won three silver medals in major 3000 m steeplechase competitions: *1991 World Championships in Athletics * 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics * ...

. At the Olympic final, it was soon clear, that all the medals are going to Kenya. At the last lap, the 20-year-old Birir outsprinted his older countryman Sang to win a gold 0.69 seconds ahead of latter. At the 1993 World Championships Birir was fourth, behind

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Alessandro Lambruschini Alessandro Lambruschini (born 7 January 1965) is an Italian former long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Biography Lambruschini participated in three editions of the Summer Olympics (1988, 1992, 1996), he has 40 c ...

, who repeated this feat three years later at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, where Birir had to settle again for fourth place.

References

External links

* 1972 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Kenya Olympic male steeplechase runners Olympic gold medalists for Kenya Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya 20th-century Kenyan sportsmen {{kenya-athletics-bio-stub