Micah Kemboi Kogo (born 3 June 1986 in Burnt Forest, Uasin Gishu District) is a Kenyan

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling * Long-distance operator * Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths * Long-distance trail *European long-d ...

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

, who specialises in 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 is the former

world record holder In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in the 10 kilometres road race event with a time of 27:01. He made his first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

appearance in 2008, taking the 10,000 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. His 10000m best of 26.35 is 6th fastest of all time.

Early life

Born into a family of

subsistence farmer Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

s, Kogo first began running when he was a young child as this was the only way he could attend primary school. He began competing at district level in

Kewet Kewet was the brand name of a battery electric vehicle. Since 2007, it has been manufactured under the name Buddy by Elbil Norge in Oslo, Norway. From inception in 1991 through October 2013, total combined sales of the Kewet and Buddy totaled ...

, running in the 5000 and

events. When he began high school, he continued to race at these distances, reaching both finals at the national secondary school championships. At this point, coach Sammy Rono noticed Kogo's athletic ability and offered to train him. Kogo accepted and, following his graduation from high school, he competed in the Discovery meet in

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

, Kenya. They spent the majority of 2004 in training, preparing Kogo for forthcoming athletics seasons.James Wokabi and Mutwiri Mutuota (12 August 2008)
Focus on Athletes – Micah Kogo

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved 4 May 2009.

International career

Beginnings in Europe

He made his first impression on the international circuit in 2005 competing at a number of road races: he won the

L'Escalade ''L'Escalade'', or ''Fête de l'Escalade'' (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls), is an annual festival in Geneva, Switzerland, held each December commemorating the defeat of an attempt to conquer the Protestant city-state by the ...

8 km run, the

Corrida de Houilles The Corrida de Houilles, officially ''Corrida pédestre internationale de Houilles'' (Houilles International Footrace), is an annual 10K run that takes place at the end of December in Houilles, France. The competition was created in 1972 by Alexa ...

10 km run and the

Auckland Castle Auckland Castle, which is also known as Auckland Palace and to people that live locally as the Bishop's Castle or Bishop's Palace, is located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. In 1832, this castle replaced Durham Castle as ...

10 km event. He also took second place at

La Provence ''La Provence'' is a French language daily newspaper published in Marseille, France. History and profile In 1997 ''La Provence'' was created in Marseille from the merger of two daily newspapers, '' Le Provençal'' of former Interior Minister Ga ...

10 km and at a meeting in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Chepkoilel cross country events. He remained in winning form in the 2006 season, defending his title at the L'Escalade and Dunkirk

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

events. On 25 August 2006 at 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 L ...

meeting he ran a personal best of 26:35.63 minutes, reaching the top ten fastest times in the event. The next month he finished sixth in 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 ...

race at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final. On 19 November 2006 he won the

Zevenheuvelenloop Zevenheuvelenloop (''Seven Hills Run'' in English) is an annual 15 kilometres road running race held in Nijmegen, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in the Netherlands;van Hemert, Wim & T ...

in and around

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

. Kogo finished in a time of 42:42 beating

Abebe Dinkesa Abebe Dinkesa Negera (born 6 March 1984) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres. He came to prominence with a silver medal at the 2004 African Championships in Athletics and he won a bronze ...

by a second, while Bernard Kipyego and

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres ...

both finished two seconds behind Kogo. On 1 April 2007 he won the 10 km road race at the

Parelloop Parelloop (''Pearl Run'' in English) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition usually held in late March or early April in Brunssum, Netherlands. The inaugural edition was held in 1989. In 2009, Micah Kogo broke the world record for th ...

Brunssum Brunssum (; li, Broensem) is a municipality and a town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. The municipality of Brunssum has residents as of . Brunssum was a center of coal mining until 1973. Population centres Topography Histor ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) in 27:07. It was the third fastest time over 10 km ever. On 20 May 2007 he won the BUPA Great Manchester Run in a time of 27:21.

Olympic medal and world record

On 4 May 2008, he won the annual

Lilac Bloomsday Run The Lilac Bloomsday Run, also known as Bloomsday, is an annual timed road race in the northwest United States, held on the first Sunday of May since 1977 in The course length is 12 km (7.456 mi). The run has had over 38,000 participants every ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, a 12 kilometres race, with a time of 33:51— a new course record. Greater success laid on the track: he was selected to represent Kenya internationally for the first time and ran in the 10,000 m at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Kogo was their best performer in the event, pipping

Moses Masai Moses Ndiema Masai (born 1 June 1986 in Kapsogom, Mount Elgon District) is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres. Masai is from Bugaa village, four kilometres from Kapsokwony town. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cher ...

to the Olympic

and winning his first major medal. He won another medal on the track at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final the following month, taking the 5000 m bronze. In March 2009, Kogo broke

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 ...

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 ...

at 10 km by clocking 27:01 at the Parelloop race in the Netherlands. He was quoted as saying, "After running 27:07 in 2007 I always had it in my mind to come back and try for the world record on this course." He followed this up with a win at the

Great Edinburgh Run The Great Edinburgh Run was an annual ten-mile road running event which took place in the city centre of Edinburgh in Scotland. The last event was in April 2017 and the organiser have no plans to reinstate the event at present. Part of the Great ...

, running a close race with defending champion Bernard Kipyego before taking the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in 28:13. He competed at the 2009 World Championships, finishing seventh in the 10,000 metres race. He closed his track season with a 5000 m

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

behind

Imane Merga Imane Merga Jida (ኢማነ መርጋ ጂዳ) (born 15 October 1988) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. He won his first world title at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships ...

at the

2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics m ...

. At the start of 2010 he won the Laredo 10 km race, but was second at the Paralloop, losing his title to

Martin Mathathi Martin Irungu Mathathi (born 25 December 1985 in Nyahururu) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who competes in track, cross country and road running events. Mathathi won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in O ...

. He competed at the

London 10,000 The London 10,000 is an annual road running event over which takes place in late May in London, United Kingdom. Established in 2008, the race goes through the roads of St. James's Park and finishes on the mall by Buckingham Palace. VitalityHe ...

in May but again took the runner-up position, this time to British runner

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

. Kogo's 10K world record was beaten by

Leonard Komon Leonard Patrick Komon (born 10 January 1988) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner and was the List of world records in athletics, world record holder in the 10 kilometres. His 10K world record in 2010 with a time of 26:44 is a 17 seco ...

in September 2010 and the

Grand 10 Berlin The Grand 10 Berlin is an annual road running event over ten kilometres which is held in October in Berlin, Germany. It is officially known as the ''ASICS Grand 10 Berlin'' due to its sponsorship by the sportswear manufacturer.

race two weeks later presented Kogo with an opportunity to go head-to-head with him. The victory went to Komon and Kogo had to content himself with fourth place in 28:24 (over a minute behind his rival). Kogo took a third career victory at the Parelloop in April 2011.

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

UAE Healthy Kidney 10K The UAE Healthy Kidney 10K was an annual road running event over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) that took place in May in New York City in the United States. The event featured both an elite-level men's race and a general mass race for fun runners. Almo ...

saw another match against Komon, but Kogo was second place behind him in the race. He topped the podium at the

Beach to Beacon 10K The Toronto-Dominion Bank Beach to Beacon 10K is a road running event that takes place along the coastline of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It begins at Crescent Beach State Park and ends at the Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park. Starting out ...

in August, although he missed the course record after making a fast start. A personal best of 60:03 minutes for the half marathon came at the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

, though he narrowly finished outside the top three. He tried to make the Kenyan Olympic team for a second time in 2012, but managed only ninth in the trial race at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...

. The highlights of his season came at the

Peachtree Road Race The Peachtree Road Race (branded AJC Peachtree Road Race for sponsorship reasons) is an American 10-kilometer run held annually in Atlanta. After being held on Independence Day from 1970 to 2019, the race was cancelled because of the COVID pand ...

(where he was runner-up in 27:39 minutes), then two strong performances on the British circuit, where he won the

Great Birmingham Run The Great Birmingham Run is an annual half marathon road running event held in Birmingham, UK in October. Formerly known as the Birmingham Half Marathon, from 2011 it became part of the Great Run series of road races. Established in 2008, it in ...

and came runner-up by a second to

Wilson Kipsang Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (born 15 March 1982) is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer O ...

at the

, recording a personal best of 59:07 minutes. In 2013, Kogo made his marathon debut, finishing second at the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

in 2:10:27. He improved his time to 2:06:56 when finishing fourth in Chicago. Kogo came in first place in the 2013

Cape Elizabeth, Maine Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, Cape Elizabeth had a population of 9,53 ...

. His time was 28 minutes, 3.2 seconds. This is his second win at the

. He also won the

Falmouth Road Race The Falmouth Road Race is an annual road race on Cape Cod from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth Heights. The race organizer is Falmouth Road Race, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that puts on the race e ...

in 2013. Kogo is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in

Kaptagat Kaptagat is a human settlement in Uasin Gishu County, in the southwestern part of Kenya. This part of the country, where the two counties of Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet County share a border, is used by the majority of Kenyan professional l ...

Achievements

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.Kogo Micah biography

. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.

References

External links

*
Focus on Athletes article
from IAAF {{DEFAULTSORT:Kogo, Micah 1986 births Living people People from Uasin Gishu County Kenyan male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)