Alex Kipchirchir Rono (born 26 November 1984 in Sergoit,

Uasin Gishu District Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. “It lies between longitudes 34 degrees 50 ...

) is a middle distance runner from

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Career

He graduated from

Litein Litein is a town located in the Kericho County, Kenya. It was previously the capital of the former Buret District. Litein has an urban population of 4,000. The town is along the Kericho-Sotik road. It also has a road link to Bomet. Litein's name o ...

High School. He played football and basketball when still at school and did not take up athletics until December 2001, when he met

Moses Tanui Moses Tanui (born 20 August 1965 in Sugoi Nandi District, Kenya) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the gold medal over 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo. Biography At the 1993 World Championships in ...

who persuaded him to become runner. Only seven months later he became World Junior Champion, in his first race outside Kenya. Before becoming a full-time athlete, he served as a waiter at his uncle's food cafe in Chepkanga, Uasing Gishu District. In 2002, Kipchirchir won the 800 metres at the World Junior Championships in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. In 2003 set a new one mile Junior World Record of 3:50.25 in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The record was broken by William Biwott Tanui in 2009. Kipchirchir finished fourth in Kenyan trials for 2003 World Championships 2004 Olympics, missing both events narrowly. On the other hand, both year he finished second at the

IAAF World Athletics Final The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...

. He represented Kenya at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland where he finished seventh in the 1500 metres final. His breakthrough year was 2006, in which he won several titles. On 23 March, he won the men's 800 metres event at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

with a time of 1 minute, 45.88 seconds. On 26 April, he was part of the world record squad in the

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event. U ...

, running a 3:52.8 final (1600m) leg. In August, he completed an 800 and 1500 metres double at the

2006 African Championships in Athletics The 15th African Championships in Athletics were held in Mauritius between August 9 and August 13, 2006. The event was staged at Stade Germain Comarmond in Bambous, Rivière Noire District. This was the second time when the African Championships ...

in Bambous,

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. Kipchirchir was awarded the 2006 Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award. After 2006 he has been unable to match his earlier performances. In May 2010 he returned to competition after a nearly two-year break caused by a

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

.Daily Nation, May 14, 2010
Kipchirchir and Kemboi are back
/ref> He is managed by

Federico Rosa Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Artists * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ. * Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, ...

and coached by David Leting and John Cook.

References

External links

* *IAAF, September 20, 2006
Focus on Africa - Alex Kipchirchir

Rosa & Associati profile
* The Standard, August 27, 2006
Kipchirchir’s rise to millionaire at 22
1984 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics {{Kenya-athletics-bio-stub