John NGUGI

Although John Ngugi achieved some notable achievements on the track in the latter part of his career, his earliest international successes came at the World Cross Country Championships, where he won a record four consecutive titles between 1986 and 1989. Due to his cross country reputation, Ngugi caused considerable surprise when he won his heat of the 5000m at the 1987 World Championships in Rome in a new championships record of 13min 22.68sec. The final in Rome started slowly, until Ngugi took the lead during the second kilometre and started to push the pace. Despite his front running tactics, John was unable to establish a break on the field, and when the sprint for home started just before the bell, Ngugi was overwhelmed, dropping from 1st to 9th in the space of 200 metres, and he eventually faded to 12th place at the finish.

In an attempt to counteract the finishing sprints of his rivals, which had caused his downfall in Rome, Ngugi tried a different and courageous tactic in the 5000m final at the Seoul Olympic Games on 1 October 1988. Just before the pack reached the 1km in a respectable 2min 42.8sec, Ngugi moved up quickly from the rear of the field, took the lead, and then sped through the next kilometre in an extraordinary 2min 32.2sec. Not surprisingly, no one else decided to follow this seemingly suicide pace, and by the end of 2km Ngugi had a 50m lead. Ngugi maintained this lead during the ensuing laps, and although his lead was reduced when the expected sprints came in the last lap, Ngugi still had enough left in the tank to lope through a final lap of 60.8sec to win by 30 metres (see photo above) in the year's fastest time of 13min 11.70sec. (Ron Casey)

                     1990 Commonwealth Games silver medal  at 5000m.

John Ngugi had produced a stunning victory in the 5000m at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, establishing an enormous lead over the field in the early stages which he never relinquished. On 19 March 1989, at Stavanger, Norway, Ngugi established a record by winning his fourth consecutive world cross-country title. The race at Stavanger was run in appalling conditions, as some parts of the course had become completely waterlogged due to torrential rain. While his rivals struggled to cope in the muddy conditions, Ngugi powered away to win by 28 seconds, the largest winning margin since the IAAF had taken over the conduct of the race in 1973.

On 1 February 1990, in the 5000m final at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, Ngugi tried exactly the same tactics which had won him the Olympic gold medal in Seoul. Ngugi tripped and fell after only two laps of the race, and lost some 35 metres on the rest of the field, but he then got up and not only caught, but overtook the entire field within a lap. John proceeded to extend his lead over the field, establishing a gap of 30 metres at 4000m, which had widened to 40 metres at the bell. At this point, the runners behind him started to make their moves as they fought for the minor medals. Soon after entering the straight, Andrew Lloyd (Australia) had gained second place from the other challengers, but Ngugi's lead, which had been diminishing, still seemed unassailable. However, Ngugi started to falter, and sensing his chance, Lloyd produced an incredible finishing burst (see photo above : G. Herringshaw ©), to just pip the gallant Ngugi on the line to win by a mere 0.08 seconds. That was Ngugi's final appearance at a major international championships before his retirement after the 1992 season. (Ron Casey)