Moses KIPTANUI

Moses Kiptanui - Kenya - Steeplechase Gold at 1993 World Championships.

Photo/Foto: George Herringshaw

Date: 22 August 1993

Click on image to enlarge

    • DATE OF BIRTH
      Thursday, 01 October 1970
    • PLACE OF BIRTH
      Marakwet, Kenya.
  • INTERNATIONAL
  • Kenya
    • Event(s)
      3000m Steeplechase, 3000m, 5000m
    • Championship Performances
      Olympics: 1996 silver 3000m Steeplechase.
      Worlds: 1991, 1993 & 1995 Gold 3000m Steeplechase,
                    1997 silver 3000m Steeplechase.
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Moses KIPTANUI - Kenya - Steeplechase Gold at 1993 World Championships.

 

Moses Kiptanui had an exceptional year in 1992, again dominating the 3000m steeplechase event as he had done the previous year. He got the year off to a great start by breaking the world indoor 3000m record, setting a new time of 7min 37.31sec at Seville on 20 February. Unfortunately, he missed selection to the Olympic Games that year due to injury at the Kenyan trials, but his distance running feats immediately following the Olympics proved that he would have been a force to be reckoned with at Barcelona if he had been able to compete. Firstly at Cologne, on 16 August, Kiptanui broke the 3000m world record, setting a new time of 7min 28.96sec.

 

Only three days later, at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Kiptanui thrashed a world-class steeplechase field that included the first six finishers in the Olympic final held only 12 days earlier. Kiptanui's time of 8min 02.08sec was not only over 9 seconds faster than that of his nearest rival, but it also broke the existing world record by over 3 seconds. He followed this performance with a sensational debut at 5000m in Brussels on 28 August, where he won in 13min 00.93sec, which made him the third fastest performer in history at that distance. He also improved his 1500m best to 3min 34.0sec, when winning the Kenyan national championships on 13 June.

 

In 1993, Kiptanui was not quite as dominant as he had been the previous year, but he still managed to retain his World Championships steeplechase title at Stuttgart, in a very fast race that saw, for the first time, the first five finishers under 8min 10sec. Kiptanui (No 784 in photo above) led from the 1000m mark, and easily held off the challenge from compatriot Patrick Sang (No 795 in photo above) on the last lap to win in 8min 06.36sec. (Ron Casey)