Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (born 14 October 1983) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specializes in the

3000 metre steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

. He won an Olympic bronze medal 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 ...

and he has two

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

medals in the discipline.

Career

He was born in

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

village, near

Narok Narok (sometimes referred to as Narok Town) is a town west of Nairobi that supports Kenya's economy in south-west of the country, along the Great Rift Valley. Narok is the district capital of the Narok County and stands as the major centre of ...

town in 1983. He started running in 1998, while at high school. He graduated from Moi Amalo Secondary School in 2001 and then joined

Kenya Police ) , formedyear = 1906 , formedmonthday = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = approx. 101,000= , volunteers = , budget = , country = Kenya , ...

. In 2004 he finished fifth at the Kenyan Olympic trials, missing the Olympics but was selected for the

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

, where he won a silver medal.A Matelong journey
/ref> Mainly competing on the European

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

circuit, he qualified for the

IAAF World Athletics Final The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...

in 2004, 2005 and 2006, eventually winning a silver medal in the latter edition. His times continued to improve and his new personal best of 8:07.50 set in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

made him the third fastest man that year. The 2007 season marked a breakthrough for Mateelong as he reached the podium at his first

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

by taking the bronze medal in the men's steeplechase race. He closed the year with a second consecutive silver at the World Athletics Final.Mateelong Richard

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 6 April 2010. He made a strong start to the 2008 season, becoming African steeplechase champion at the

2008 African Championships in Athletics The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was t ...

. He went on to win his first ever Olympic medal at the

later that year, finishing behind compatriot

Brimin Kipruto Brimin Kipruto (born 31 July 1985) is a Kenyan professional middle distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Korkitony, Keiyo District. He holds a personal best of 7:53.64 minutes which is the ...

and

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (born 15 March 1985) is a French professional middle-distance running, middle-distance runner of Algerian descent who mainly competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He has won medals in major international competitio ...

in the Olympic final. He again managed to get in the medals at the

2008 IAAF World Athletics Final The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008. A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting po ...

and won bronze on that occasion. The

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

brought a new steeplechase best of 8:00.89 for Mateelong, and although he did not beat

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 ...

it was enough to win his first silver medal at the global championship level. He competed 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 ...

(the final edition of the competition) but failed to maintain his form and finished eighth. He ran in the

Giro Media Blenio The Giro Media Blenio is an annual road running event over 10 kilometres which takes place in April in the village of Dongio, Switzerland. It was created in honour of Markus Ryffel's silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Los Angeles O ...

10K in 2010 and finished in third place behind

Moses Mosop Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (born 7 July 1985) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has also been suc ...

and

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 Championship ...

. At the Doha

2012 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 ...

meeting, Mateelong was second to compatriot Paul Koech in the steeplechase, in a new personal best time of 7:56.81. This makes Mateelong the eighth fastest man in history. He came fourth behind

Abel Mutai Abel Kiprop Mutai (born 2 October 1988) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Nandi. He won the gold medal at the 2005 World Youth Championships, a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Ol ...

at the Kenyan Olympic trials, however, meaning he did not gain selection for the Kenyan team. , he lives in

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...

and is married with one child. He is managed by

Gianni Demadonna Gianni Demadonna (born 14 June 1954) is a former Italian male long-distance runner who competed at five editions of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (from 1977 to 1987). He also won a national championship A national championship(s) i ...

. He is technically advised by Renato Canova.

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 ...

- 3:41.79 min (2005) *

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 ...

- 7:48.71 min (2005) *

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 ...

- 13:30.4 min (2006) *

- 7:56.81 min (2012)

References

* *IAAF, 27 August 2007
Focus on Africa - Richard Kipkemboi MATELONG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mateelong, Richard 1983 births Living people Kenyan male steeplechase runners Kenyan male long-distance runners People from Narok County Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya Olympic bronze medalists for Kenya Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Kenyan male cross country runners IAAF Continental Cup winners