Paul Kipsiele Koech 2010 Memorial Van Damme

Paul Kipsiele Koech (born 10 November 1981) is a Kenyan runner who specializes 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 won the 2004 Olympic

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 ...

in this event. His personal best of 7:54.31 minutes is the third fastest of all time. He was born in 1981 in Kapchepkoro, near Sotik town, Sotik District. He graduated from Cheplanget Secondary School in 1999. He did well at the National Cross Country Championships and was subsequently invited to compete in Europe and joined a team managed by

James Templeton James F. Templeton was a Scottish amateur footballer who played as a left half in the Scottish League for Queen's Park. He represented the Scottish League XI. Career statistics Honours Queen's Park * Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is ...

.21 August 2004
Focus on Africa – Paul Kipsielei Koech (KEN)
/ref> Despite being among the fastest steeplechasers, he has failed several times at the Kenyan trials for World championships or Olympics.The Standard, 12 August 2009
Kipsiele confident of Berlin victory
He competed at the all seven IAAF World Athletics Final meetings, finishing every time in the top three, being the only athlete to achieve it. He has had success in

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 ...

, with wins at the

Cinque Mulini The Cinque Mulini is an annual cross country running race in San Vittore Olona, Italy. First held in 1933, the course is unusual in that it revolves around a number of water mills along Olona river, which lend the competition its name – meaning ' ...

(2006) and the Iris Lotto Cross Cup (2007) to his name. He holds the steeplechase meet record for 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 ...

, Adidas Grand Prix, and

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 ...

. He has built a primary school near his home. He also trains some younger runners, including World junior champion

Mercy Cherono Mercy Cherono Koech (born 7 May 1991) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres (2 ...

. Koech is married and has a daughter born in 2004 and a younger son. In February 2010 he set a world best of 5:17.04 in the rarely competed 2000 m indoor steeplechase. He won twice in the

2010 Diamond League The 2010 Diamond League season was the first season of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium. Superseding the Europe ...

and finished with enough points to become the inaugural steeplechase Diamond Trophy winner. He improved his indoor 2000 m steeplechase record to 5:13.77 at the

Indoor Flanders Meeting The Indoor Flanders meeting was an annual indoor track and field meeting which took place at the Flanders Sports Arena in Ghent, Belgium. It was one of foremost meetings on the indoor European circuit and one of nine events which hold IAAF Indoor ...

in February 2011. At the Rome

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 ...

event in May Koech set a new personal best of 7:54.31, the third fastest time ever for the 3000 metre steeplechase. Despite this performance, he did not perform well in the altitude of the Kenyan Olympic trials and finished outside of the top five.Mutuota, Mutwiri (23 June 2012)
Rudisha runs 1:42.12 at altitude – Kenyan Olympic Trials
.

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 on 2012-06-24.

Achievements

Personal bests

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 ...

– 3:37.92 (2007) *

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 ...

– 7:33.93 (2005) *Two miles – 8:13.31 (2008) *

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 ...

– 13:05.18 (2010) *

– 7:54.31 (2012) *

Half Marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

- 1:01:03 (2017) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

- 2:12:02 (2017)

References

External links

Official website
*
__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Koech, Paul Kipsiele 1981 births Living people Kenyan male steeplechase runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya People from Kericho County Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games Diamond League winners Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics