Sammy Kipketer (born 29 September 1981 in Rokocho,

Keiyo District Keiyo District (also known as ''Elgeyo district'' or Elgeiyo) is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The district was formed in 1994, when ''Elgeyo/Marakwet-District'' was split into two - the other half wa ...

) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises 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 ...

and

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 ...

Career

He graduated from Lelboinet Secondary School in 1998. The next year he qualified for the

1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 27 and 28 March 1999. The races were held at the Barnett Demesne/ Queen's University Playing Fields in Belfast, United Kingdom. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Tim ...

, where he finished sixth at the junior race. The Kenyan Army recruited him in 2001. He now trains with Daniel Komen who was Kenya's foremost runner for a while. Kipketer broke the 3,000m junior world record twice when he was 17. He has also broken the 13-minute barrier for the 5000 metres. He won a 10000 metres in Brussels with his personal record time of 26:49.38. Right now he is focusing on 10-kilometre races. He holds the 5 kilometres road running world record as recognised by the

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(ARRS), while

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 ...

does not keep a world record over the distance. Kipketer's time, 12:59.5 minutes, was set at the

Carlsbad 5000 The Carlsbad 5000 is an annual five kilometer (3.1 mile) road running event that takes place each spring in the city of Carlsbad, California along the north coast of San Diego County. Organization The event is organized by Groundwork Endurance, a ...

race in

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

in March 2000.Association of Road Racing Statisticians
World Records
/ref> He won 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 ...

10K in race in the

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 2001,Arrs.net
List of Parelloop winners
/ref> setting a new world record of 27.18 minutes.

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 ...

ran the distance in 27:02 minutes in 2002 in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, IAAF recognised the time as world record, while ARRS rejected it claiming Gebrselassie got assistance by a vehicle. Thus Kipketer's time is still a valid ARRS world record (as of 2007), although

Micah Kogo Micah Kemboi Kogo (born 3 June 1986 in Burnt Forest, Uasin Gishu District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specialises in the 10,000 metres. He is the former world record holder in the 10 kilometres road race event with a time of 27 ...

has since set a better time, still awaiting ratification by ARRS. Kipketer is managed by Tom Ratcliffe of Kimbia Athletics and coached by

Dieter Hogen Dieter or dieter may refer to: * A person committed to dieting People Dieter is a German given name (), a short form of Dietrich, from ''theod+ric'' "people ruler", see Theodoric. Given name *Dieter Althaus (born 1958), German politician ...

. He belongs to the Keiyo tribe, a sub-tribe of Kalenjin. He was born in Rokocho, near

Kaptarakwa Kapatarakwa is a village in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Kaptarakwa is located about 37 km from the town of Eldoret in the Kenyan highlands. Kaptarakwa is about above sea level. Nearby is the Kerio Escarpment which drops down to above sea ...

. He is married and has 1 daughter, and he currently lives in Merewet,

Uasin Gishu District Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. “It lies between longitudes 34 degrees 50 ...

. He is 1.66 metres tall and has a weight of 52 kg.

International competitions

Personal bests

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 ...

- 7:33.62 min (2001) *

- 12:52.33 min (2003) *

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 ...

- 26:49.38 min (2002)

References

External links

* *IAAF, March 14, 2005
Focus on Africa - Sammy Kipketer (KEN)PACE Sports Management
1981 births Living people Kenyan male long-distance runners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Kenyan male cross country runners Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games {{Kenya-athletics-bio-stub