Jairus Kipchoge Birech (born 14 December 1992) is a Kenyan

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

runner. He holds a personal best time of 7:58.41 minutes for the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

, which ranks him among the top ten of all time. He was the gold medallist at the

2014 African Championships in Athletics The 2014 African Championships in Athletics was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 10 to 14 August 2014. The competition was the 19th edition of Africa senior championships. The competition served as preparation to African athletes for the next conti ...

and silver medallist at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. He was a silver medallist at the

African Junior Athletics Championships The African Junior Athletics Championships is a biennial continental athletics event for junior athletes from African nations. Organized by the Confederation of African Athletics and first held in 1994, only athletes aged 19 or under are allowed t ...

in 2011 and went on to place fourth at the

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 2005, Lusaka, Zambia was named t ...

. He competes frequently on the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

and was the 2014 Diamond Race winner. He was the fastest steeplechase in the world in 2014.

Career

Born in Uasin Gishu, Birech began competing in the steeplechase as a teenager and dipped under nine minutes for the

for the first time in 2010, recording 8:50.0 minutes in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He made his breakthrough at international level in the 2011 season. He started with his first medal for Kenya at the

2011 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2011 African Junior Athletics Championships were held at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana from 12 to 15 May. It was the tenth edition of the continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger ...

, where he was the silver medallist in a Kenyan 1–2 with

Gilbert Kirui Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

. His European debut resulted in a victory at the Miners Day Meeting in Velenje. He ran at his first

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

race soon after and his personal best time of 8:11.31 minutes (for fifth at the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

in Paris) ranked him thirteenth in the world that year, marking him out as one of Kenya's emerging talents. He won at the Barcelona Meeting and fifth at the

DN Galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...

Diamond League.Jairus Birech
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 16 June 2014. In his senior debut for Kenya, at the age of eighteen, he came fourth behind an Ethiopian trio in the steeplechase at the

. He began his 2012 season in Australia and won at the Sydney Track Classic. Another win came at the Kawasaki Super Meet, where he broke the meeting record. At the

Doha Diamond League The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is part of the Diamond League – the top level international circuit for the sport. It is typically held in May as the fi ...

meet he set a personal best of 8:06.72 minutes, but this was only enough for fourth in a quick race. He found himself behind Kenyan opposition on several occasions that year, coming third at the

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pie ...

, fourth at the Olympic trials, Meeting Areva and

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 L ...

, and fifth at

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world reco ...

. He performed better towards the end of the season, placing second to Paul Kipsiele Koech at the

Athletissima Athletissima is an annual athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. The first edition was held on 8 July 1977 in the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. In ...

meet, winning at the

Birmingham Grand Prix The British Grand Prix, formerly known as the Birmingham Grand Prix, is an annual athletics (sport), athletics meeting. Since 2010 it has been a part of the Diamond League series of track and field meets. In 2020 the event was due to be held at ...

, and setting a meet record at the

Hanžeković Memorial Hanžeković Memorial ( hr, Hanžekovićev memorijal) is an athletics event at the Sportski Park Mladost athletic stadium in Zagreb, Croatia as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1951. ''Hanžek'' (which is the ...

. His best run of 8:03.43 minutes ranked him fifth in the world that year, behind four other Kenyans. Birech beat Emmanuel Bett in a sprint finish at the

Cross Internacional de Itálica The Cross Internacional de Itálica is an annual cross country running competition that is held every January in Santiponce, near Seville, Spain. Inaugurated in 1982, the race course is set in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Itálica. As on ...

in January 2013. He won on the track in May, improving the meet record at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo. On the

2012 IAAF Diamond League The 2012 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2012 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the third edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 11 May in Doha, Q ...

circuit he appeared regularly in the steeplechase but only twice made the top three (third at the London Grand Prix and second at 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 G ...

) A fourth place at the Kenyan trials saw him miss a major tournament again and slipped down the end-of-year steeplechase rankings, coming ninth for 2013. He performed well in long-distance races, however, coming runner-up at the

Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December. Amo ...

and fourth in a 10K best of 29:00 minutes at the

BOclassic The BOclassic is an annual road running competition over the distance of 10 kilometres for men and 5 kilometres for women. It is held on New Year's Eve in Bolzano, Italy. The competition has only elite races, competed between a limited number of ...

. He had a breakthrough in the

2014 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 ...

season. After a fourth-place finish in Doha, he had back-to-back wins in Rome and at the Bislett Games, running a personal best and world-lead of 8:02.37 minutes in the latter. He was a narrow second to Koech at the

IAAF World Challenge Beijing IAAF World Challenge Beijing is an annual track and field competition held in Beijing, China, in May. First held in 2013, it takes place at the Beijing National Stadium, the venue for the Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is part of the ...

, but came out top in national competition at the

Kenyan Athletics Championships The Kenyan Athletics Championships is an annual track and field meeting which serves as Kenya's national championships for the sport. Athletics Kenya, the country's governing body for athletics organises the event. The championships is usually hel ...

. He was the world's dominant steeplechaser that year, losing only once between June and September. At the major events of the year, he was the favourite for the

but was upset by fellow Kenyan

Jonathan Ndiku Jonathan Muia Ndiku (born 18 September 1991) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has a personal best of 8:07.75 minutes. He was the gold medallist in the event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, whe ...

, who beat Birech by two seconds, but he reversed that placing at the

to take the continental gold medal. On the circuit, he won the Diamond League races in Lausanne, Monaco, and Birmingham before going on to win the series final at the

, setting a new best of 7:58.41 minutes in the process. This mark made him the eleventh man to complete the distance in under eight minutes and placed him tenth on the all-time lists.Mulkeen, Jon (5 September 2014)
Birech breaks the eight-minute barrier in Brussels – IAAF Diamond League
IAAF. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.

Personal bests

– 7:58.41 min (2014) *

2000 metres steeplechase The 2000 meter steeplechase is a rarely run senior athletics and a standard youth athletics event for the steeplechase in track and field. The event is part of the athletics programme for boys and girls at the IAAF World Youth Championships in At ...

– 5:57.2 min (2009) *

2000 metres The 2000 metres or 2000-metre run is a track running event where five laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track, or ten laps around a 200 m indoor track - the distance is 11.68 meters short of 1¼ miles. The global governing body World Ath ...

– 4:58.76 min (2011) *

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 ...

– 7:41.83 min (2013) *

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

– 29:00 min (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birech, Jairus Kipchoge Living people 1992 births People from Uasin Gishu County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province Kenyan male steeplechase runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Diamond League winners IAAF Continental Cup winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games African Games competitors for Kenya Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games