Jonah Birir (born December 27, 1971, in

Eldama Ravine Eldama Ravine is a town in Baringo County, Kenya, a few miles north of the equator, geographical coordinates 0° 30' 0" North, 35° 43' 0" East. It was established as an administrative point by British colonialists and later served as a transit r ...

Koibatek 'KoibatekSub-County
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Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n middle-distance runner. In 1988 he won the World Junior Championships held in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, Canada, over

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 the ...

, and at the 1990 World Junior Championships he won a silver medal in a personal best time of 1:46.61. He then concentrated on the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

distance, finishing fifth in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

final in Barcelona. The final was won by

Fermín Cacho Fermín Cacho Ruiz (born 16 February 1969) is a Spanish track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1500m at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Born in � ...

of Spain. The same year Birir finished second at the IAAF World Cup. His personal best was 3:33.86 seconds, achieved during the Zürich meet in 1993.

External links

* 1971 births Living people People from Baringo County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya Olympic male middle-distance runners {{Kenya-athletics-bio-stub