Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (born 30 November 1989) is a Kenyan

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who competes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

. He has a personal best of 1:42.54 minutes for the event. He represented Kenya at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

and was a gold medallist in the 4×800 metres relay at the 2014 IAAF World Relays. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, he won the silver medal, finishing behind his countryman

Emmanuel Korir Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir (born 15 June 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and 2022 World champion in the 800 metres. Korir won the silver medal in the event at the 2018 African Championships in Athletics. As o ...

Career

A relative late-comer to the sport, he made his first impact in the 2013 season at the age of 23. He won the 800 m at the

Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision making. Defini ...

, setting a personal best of 1:45.40 minutes. In his first race in Europe, he went under one minute and 45 seconds for the first time to take fourth at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

. He placed a narrow second to Anthony Chemut at the Kenyan trials in July, improving further to 1:44.38 minutes. This led to his selection for the

. At the competition, he progressed to the semi-final and initially placed fifth but was disqualified for a lane infringement. He ended the year with two performances on the 2013 IAAF Diamond League circuit, coming third at both the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF ...

and the

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond Le ...

. The latter race was the fastest in the year, and Rotich's time of 1:43.22 minutes ranked him as the third fastest in the world that season, making it a rapid rise for the athlete who was unranked in 2012. At the first meet of the

2014 IAAF Diamond League The 2014 IAAF Diamond League was the fifth edition of the annual Diamond League. It consisted of fourteen one-day track and field meetings, starting on May 9, 2014 in Doha, Qatar and ending on September 5, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. Other events w ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

, he came third. He was chosen for the 4×800 metres relay team (alongside Sammy Kibet Kirongo, Job Koech Kinyor and

Alfred Kipketer Career He won his first international medal at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics, taking the 800 m gold medal. He completed the first lap in a time of 48.63 seconds – faster than the first lap of David Rudisha's 800 metres w ...

) at the inaugural 2014 IAAF World Relays event and leading off for Kenya he helped the team to the gold medal.Report: Men's 4x800m – Nassau 2014
IAAF (24 May 2014). Retrieved on 2014-05-31. At the

2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials The 2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials the athletics meeting held by Athletics Kenya to select the representatives to the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China The meet was held July 31 to August 1, 2015 in Nyayo Natio ...

, Rotich shocked world record holder

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from t ...

in the

, beating him by almost half a second to qualify for the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

International competition record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotich, Ferguson Cheruiyot Living people 1989 births Kenyan male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya World Athletics Championships winners People from Kericho County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province Diamond League winners Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Kenya