Yobes Ondieki (born February 21, 1961, in

Kisii Kisii may refer to: * Kisii, Kenya, the inaugural capital city of Kenya * Kisii County, one of the 47 counties of Kenya * Gucha District, in Kenya, also known as ''South Kisii District'' * Nyamira District, in Kenya, also known as ''North Kisii Di ...

, Nyanza) is a

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n former

5000 m 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 stand ...

runner, who won the World Championships' gold medal in Tokyo 1991. In the same year he set a temporary Kenyan 5000 m record of 13:01.82 in Zurich. He participated in the Olympic finals of

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and

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but did not win a medal. He also was the first person to break 27:00 in the 10,000 m in 1993 with a then world record time of 26:58.38.

Biography

Ondieki attended

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

where he captured four Big Eight conference titles, three of them in cross country. Ondieki received All-America accolades six times at Iowa State. Although he never won an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

individual championship, he came close on several occasions, earning NCAA runner-up honors three times and third-place status three times. Except for the NCAA championship, he won every cross country meet he competed in during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Ondieki was known for his demanding training sessions and his ability to run constantly at a high pace. However, he lacked a finishing kick, a weakness exploited by his opponents in the 1992 Olympic 5,000 m final in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In 1993, Ondieki became the first athlete to break the 27-minute barrier over

10,000 meters 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 ...

when he ran a world record time of 26:58.38 at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislet ...

in Oslo on July 10. His time broke the mark set by

Richard Chelimo Richard Chelimo (21 April 1972 – 15 August 2001) was a Kenyan long-distance runner, and a world record holder over 10,000 metres. However, he is best known as the silver medallist in the controversial 10,000m at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona ...

only five days earlier in Stockholm by over 9 seconds. From 1989 to 1993, Ondieki was ranked in the top 5 in the world in the 5,000 meters by ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running ...

'', with his number one ranking coming in 1991. In 1993, ''Track & Field News'' ranked him number one in the world in the 10,000 meters. Ondieki married Lisa Martin, an Australian marathon runner. In 1990 they had a baby girl named Emma Ondieki. Today, Ondieki and Martin are divorced. In September 1991 both he and Martin attended the 1991 AFL Grand Final as a part of the prematch entertainment. The vision of Ondieki laughing uncontrollably at the antics of

Angry Anderson Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson (born 5 August 1947) is an Australian rock singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He has been the lead vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976. As a solo artist, he is best known f ...

has been used in a more recent advertisement for Carlton Draught.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ondieki, Yobes 1961 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Kenya World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya World Athletics Championships winners