Moses KIPTANUI

 During 1996 and 1997, the dominance that Moses Kiptanui had enjoyed in the 3000m steeplechase started to be seriously challenged by a number of his countrymen. Joseph Keter had beaten him in the 1996 Olympic final and on 13 August 1997, Wilson Boit Kipketer lowered Kiptanui's world record to 7min 59.08sec in a race in Zurich in which Kiptanui finished third in 8min 00.78sec. Another Kenyan, Bernard Barmasai, finished second in 8min 00.35sec. Barmasai's and Kiptanui's times were respectively the fastest second and third place times in history.

Only eleven days later Kiptanui and Barmasai staged a titanic duel at a Grand Prix meeting in Cologne. Kiptanui set an exceptionally fast pace but could not shake Barmasai, who passed Kiptanui in the last 80 metres to win in 7min 55.72sec to Kiptanui's second place time of 7min 56.16sec. Both athletes had annihilated Boit Kipketer's short-lived world record, and Kiptanui now owned three of the five sub-8 minute times ever recorded. As they had all bettered the pre-1997 world record for the event during the year, the clash between these three Kenyans at the 1997 World Championships in Athens was eagerly awaited. In Athens, Kiptanui, seeking his fourth successive World Championship title, led for most of the race (see photo above), but was overtaken by Boit Kipketer at the last hurdle, and he only just held off the fast finishing Barmasai to secure the silver medal.

Kiptanui paid increasing attention to training younger Kenyan runners towards the end of his career, although he still continued to produce world-class performances. He ran his fastest time in 1998 of 8min 04.96sec when winning a race in Rome on 14 July. Unfortunately he ruptured his left achilles tendon the following week at the Goodwill Games and was sidelined for the rest of the season. (Ron Casey)