Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born 17 May 1976) Komen is rumoured to be three years older than officially recognised. is a Kenyan middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. Remembered for his rivalry with

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

, Komen's most notable achievements came in a two-year period between 1996 and 1998, during which he broke a string of world records. He currently holds the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

both outdoors (7:20.67 set in 1996) and indoors (7:24.90 set in 1998). In addition, with his 7.58.61 world record in the 2-mile race set in 1997, he remains the only man in history to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles, splitting circa 3:59.4 on both the first and second half of the race. Komen was also the second man, after

Saïd Aouita Saïd Aouita ( ar, سعيد عويطة; born November 2, 1959) is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 mete ...

, to break the 13-minute mark for the 5,000 m, the 7-minute mark for 3,000 m, and the 3-minute mark for the 1,500 m.

Early life

Komen was born in Elgeyo Marakwet District. He is from the Keiyo sub-tribe of

Kalenjin people The Kalenjin are a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people ''(thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.)'' The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tanzania and Malawi. In contrast, their desig ...

and grew up in a rural area of Kenya's

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces i ...

. One of fourteen children, Tanser (2001), p. 186. Komen began running at the age of seven as a means of getting to and from school. His running abilities were discovered and at the age of 14 he travelled to Australia .Komen had an exceptional junior career: at age 17, he placed second at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, and in 1994, he became the World Junior Champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

Career

Komen first appeared in the senior ranks in 1994 when he won a place on Kenya's 10,000 m team for the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

, placing ninth. The next year, at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, Komen set the world junior record in the 5,000m with a time of 12:56.15, helping pace Moses Kiptanui to a world record in the process. Tanser (2001), p. 185. In 1996, Komen began to dominate the 5,000 m. On 1 September 1996 in Rieti, Italy, Komen ran a spectacular

time of 7:20.67 in the

, breaking Noureddine Morceli's former record by 4.44 seconds. A year later, Komen made history again. In Hechtel, Belgium, Komen became the first (and so far only) man to run two miles in under eight minutes, clocking a world record 7:58.61.See here for Komen's lap splits: His first mile was faster than

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres an ...

's first-ever sub-four, while his second equalled it. Just seven months later, at an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n athletics meet in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, Komen ran 7:58.91, missing his world record by 0.30 seconds. In August 1997 he broke the 5000 m world record and took two seconds off of Haile Gebrselassie's best to bring it to 12:39.74. Only twelve days after the previous world record of 7:26.15 was set by Haile Gebrselassie, Komen broke the indoor 3,000-metre record with a time of 7:24.90, set in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

on 6 February 1998. This mark is still referred to as "

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow hei ...

" See paragraph 12 of the article. in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

circles and has been bettered only twice outdoors, one of them being Komen's own world record. Kenenisa Bekele believes that breaking Komen's record is only "possible on a special day if the pace is good and if everything else also is perfect." Other accolades include being the

1997 World Championships in Athletics The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 19 ...

and

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...

5,000-meter champion. He won the 5000 metres race at the 1998 IAAF World Cup.gbrathletics.com
IAAF WORLD CUP IN ATHLETICS
/ref> Out of the limelight since the late 1990s, Komen now serves as chairman of the Keiyo North Rift Athletics Association and as co-director of a private school with his wife, Joyce.

Personal records

''Daniel Komen's personal records, and their place on the world ranking of all times, unless otherwise noted. All times and placings are taken fro
Komen's IAAF bio
():''

International competitions

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*
Kimbia Athletics profile
(archive.org)
Highlight footage of his 7:58.61 record for 2 milesVideo recording of Komen's outdoor 3,000m recordA biographical article "What Ever Happened to Daniel Komen?" that includes much race information from Komen's career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komen, Daniel 1976 births Living people People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male cross country runners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics record holders World Athletics indoor record holders World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games