Born on 17 January 1940 at Kipsamo in
Nandi County, many regard him as the founding father of Kenyan
athletics. The two-time Olympic gold medalist also adds 2 Olympic
silver medals, 3 gold and 1 bronze medals in the Commonwealth games
in his decorated sporting career.
“When you stand on
the victory stand, you must be able to ask yourself: ‘Did I win
this medal?’”
His first shot at international
competition was the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth Australia were
he finished 11th. The resilient Keino went along and
competed in his first Olympic at the Tokyo Games where he came 10th
and 5th in the 1500m and 5000m respectively.
On 27 August 1965, he smashed the 3000m
world record by 6 seconds on his first attempt at the distance in
Sweden. The same year he broke another world record, the 5000m in
Auckland, New Zealand. 1966 marked the year he won the 1500m and came
close third in 5000m race at the inaugural All Africa Games in
Brazzaville. The same year he won both the mile and 3-mile race at
the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. At the 1968 Summer
Olympics in Mexico City he came back home with 1500m gold and 5000m
silver medal.
Before leaving the tracks in 1973, he
was at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany where he won the
3000m steeplechase gold and 1500m silver medal.
World records he held:
Men’s 3000m World Record Holder (27
August, 1965 – 14 September, 1972)
Men’s 5000m World Record Holder
(1965)
The fast and first man:
First African to run a four-minute mile
with 3:54.2, 0.1 short of the world record (Tokyo race, 1965).
The largest winning margin in 1500m
history (The 20m margin defeat on World record holder Jim Ryun)
Keino is the first Kenyan sportsperson
to be on the cover the internationally acclaimed magazine, “Sports
Illustrated” (1987).
After his retirement from the athletics
world, he returned home to give back where he set up the Kip Keino
Primary School and KipKeino High school. Through his foundation, he
proceeded to establish Kip Kieno High Altitude Training Centre, an
academy for training upcoming athletes.
In 1996, he was inducted into the World
Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame and he’s currently the chairman of
the National Olympic Committee Kenya (NOCK).
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