Jonathan Muia Ndiku (born 18 September 1991) is a Kenyan

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 exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who specialises in 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 ...

. He has a personal best of 8:07.75 minutes. He was the gold medallist in the event 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 ...

, where he broke the

Commonwealth Games record Commonwealth Games records are the best performances in a specific edition of the event's history. As the Commonwealth Games only accepts athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, the records are not considered as prestigious as World records ...

. As a youth Ndiku ran the fastest steeplechase time for an under-17 athlete. He went on to win back-to-back titles at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics in 2008 and 2010 – the first ever to do so. He was also the African junior steeplechase champion in 2009. Based in Japan with the Hitachi Cable team, he has also represented Kenya at the

2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2013. The races were held at the Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold, and Ethiopia had the most overal ...

Career

Youth and junior career

Born in

Machakos Machakos, also called Masaku is a town in Kenya, southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos County, Kenya. Its population is rapidly growing and was 150,041 as of 2009 and Machakos County had a population of 1,421,932 as of 2019 ...

, he began running seriously around 2004 in the hope he could make a living out of the sport.Halford, Paul (14 July 2008)
Ndiku's crash-course does the trick
IAAF. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. Ndiku made his international debut at the

2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics were the fifth edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held on 11–15 July 2007 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Results Boys Girls Medals table See also ...

, coming fourth in the

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 ...

event. His technique was poor and his coach, Paul Mutwii, turned to Boniface Teren, the Kenyan national steeplechase coach, for help. Working with Teren, Ndiku's technique over the barriers greatly improved and one year later he won the gold medal at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted t ...

, beating Uganda's Benjamin Kiplagat who had built up a sizeable lead in the early stages. Ndiku's winning time of 8:17.28 minutes was enough to rank the 16-year-old in the top 25 athletes in the world that year, as well as being the fastest ever recorded by a youth category athlete. His flat speed also improved, as he won 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 ...

at the Commonwealth Youth Games that year. He also competed in Japan that year. After signing up with the Hitachi Cable corporate running team, he set track bests of 7:54.04 minutes 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 ...

, 13:21.17 minutes for the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

and 28:08.28 minutes for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. He won the steeplechase title at the

2009 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships were held in Bambous, Mauritius from 30 July to 2 August. There were 40 events in total, of which 20 were contested by male athletes and 20 by female athletes. Multiple gold medallists Caster Semeny ...

, despite having lost one of his running spikes in the first half of the race. Returning to Japanese track for Hitachi Cable, he won the 1500 m title at the All-Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships in a personal best of 3:41.83 minutes and was runner-up over 5000 m with another best time of 13:11.99 minutes. In addition, he set a 10,000 m best of 27:37.72 minutes in October – a time which ranked him in the top 25 that year.Jonathan Ndiku
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. He opened 2010 with a 1500 m win at the Hyogo Relays. He entered the steeplechase 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 ...

and was the national runner-up to Richard Mateelong. Still eighteen years old and in the junior category, he set about defending his title at the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes under the age of 20 which was held at the Moncton Stadium in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada from 19 to 25 July 2010. A total of 44 athletics ...

. He was the clear winner with ten seconds over the runner-up, fellow Kenyan

Albert Kiptoo Yator Albert Kiptoo Yator (6 September 1993 – 5 February 2011) was a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialised in the steeplechase. Born in Iten, he was the brother of a former world junior record holder, Raymond Yator. He won his fir ...

. This made Ndiku the first athlete to defend the title in the competition's history. Having extended his country's winning streak in the event since 1986, he remarked "This race is our culture. It's a Kenyan race." Success also came in flat races that year as he won both the 1500 m and 5000 m Japan Corporate Championship titles, including a personal best of 3:39.27 minutes.

Senior career

Ndiku began to establish himself as a steeplechaser in the senior ranks in 2011. He competed on the 2011 IAAF Diamond League circuit and set a personal best of 8:07.75 minutes for sixth place at the

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 ...

meeting – a time which ranked him the ninth fastest in the world that year. He also ranked third 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 ...

and fifth at the Weltklasse Zürich. He was twice runner-up at the Japanese Corporate Championships. His 2012 season was more low-key and contained few races, with wins at the Hyogo Relays and the Japanese Corporate steeplechase being the highlights. Still, his time of 8:17.88 minutes at the Meeting Areva ranked him in the top 25 for the event. He gained his first senior selection for Kenya at the

, but failed to finish the race. He completed a Japanese Corporate double over the 5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase, but his season's best time of 8:18.78 minutes was not an improvement on the previous year for the 22-year-old. In the 2014 season Ndiku emerged as a top senior level athlete. In the steeplechase he opened with a run of 8:10.72 minutes (his fastest time since 2011) which brought him third place at the IAAF World Challenge Beijing behind Paul Kipsiele Koech and

Jairus Birech Jairus Kipchoge Birech (born 14 December 1992) is a Kenyan steeplechase runner. He holds a personal best time of 7:58.41 minutes for the 3000 metres steeplechase, which ranks him among the top ten of all time. He was the gold medallist at the 2 ...

. He followed this with a runner-up finish at the national championships (behind Birech) and a top three finish 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 ...

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 ...

meeting. He was chosen for the

and was the least favoured entrant of the Kenyan team behind world-leader Birech and reigning world and Olympic champion

Ezekiel Kemboi Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi (born 25 May 1982) is a Kenyan professional athlete, winner of the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2009 World Championships, the 2011 World Championships, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2013 W ...

. However, Ndiku completed an upset by keeping with the pair before pulling ahead in the final lap to win the gold medal in a Games record time of 8:10.44 minutes.Broadbent, Chris (1 August 2014)
Bolt lights up Glasgow and Australia take three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games
IAAF. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.

Personal bests

– 3:39.27 min (2010) *

– 7:39.63 min (2014) *

– 13:11.99 min (2009) *

– 27:37.72 min (2009) *

– 5:37.30 min (2007) *

– 8:07.75 min (2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ndiku, Jonathan Muia Living people 1991 births People from Machakos County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male steeplechase runners Kenyan male cross country runners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games