5000 Metres

Abderrahim Goumri
Abderrahim Goumri (Arabic: عبد الرحيم الغومري‎; born May 21, 1976 in Safi) is a Moroccan long-distance runner. He has competed in cross country, track and road running, but is now a marathon specialist.
He spent the early part of his career in Norway and established himself with performances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he helped his nation to team bronze medals at the 2002 and 2003 editions. He reached the 5000 metres track finals at the 2003 World Championships and the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2005 he ran a career best of 12:50.25 minutes for the distance to take eleventh place on the all-time lists.
From 2007 onwards he focused on marathon running and was runner-up at both the London and New York races that year. He set a Moroccan record of 2:05:30 hours for third at the 2008 London Marathon, becoming the sixth fastest marathoner at that point. He was the runner-up at the 2008 New York Marathon and the 2009 Chicago Marathon. In spite of good performances at major races on the circuit, he has not performed well in the event at championships -- finishing twentieth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and failing to finish at the World Championships in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

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Abraham Chebii
Abraham Kosgei Chebii (born 23 December 1979 in Kaptabuk, Marakwet District) is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 5000 metres. His personal best time is 12:52.99 minutes, achieved in June 2003 in Oslo.
He represented Kenya at the 2004 Athens Olympics and reached the final but failed to finish the race. Chebii won the individual and team silver medals in the short race at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He has won a number of races on the athletics circuit including the Cross Internacional de Itálica in 2002 and the Great Ireland Run in 2007 and 2008. He gained selection for the 5000 m at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final and came in ninth place.
He won the Discovery Kenya Half Marathon in Eldoret in January 2011, beating the runner-up Vincent Kipruto by a margin of eleven seconds. His next outing came at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and he came third, achieving a personal best of 1:00:07 on the flat course.
He graduated from Marakwet High School in 1997. He was spotted by Moses Kiptanui whose team Chebii joined.

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Alain Mimoun
Alain Mimoun (born January 1, 1921) is a retired French runner and Olympic marathon champion.
Born in El Telagh, then in French Algeria, Mimoun lost several years of competition to World War II. After the war, he was the French champion in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres.
Mimoun's path to an Olympic gold medal was blocked in both 1948 and 1952 by Czech runner Emil Zátopek. Mimoun won silver medals in 10000 metres in 1948 and 1952 as well as another silver medal in 5000 metres in 1952. His second place finishes behind Zátopek gave him the nickname "Zátopek's Shadow." He finally won a gold medal in the marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Mimoun made the French team for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won his final national championship in 1966, twenty years after his debut.
The athletics stadium in Bugeat, France is named in Mimoun's honor.

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Alfred Shrubb
Alfred "Alfie" Shrubb (12 December 1879 – 23 April 1964) was an English middle distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 (when he was barred from amateur competition for receiving payment for running) and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800 started. At the peak of his career he was virtually unbeatable at distances up to 15 miles, often racing against relay teams so that the race would be more competitive. On November 4, 1904, at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, he broke the one-hour record as well as all amateur records from six to eleven miles, and all professional records from eight to eleven miles, running eleven miles, 1,137 yards (18.742 km) in one hour. This record was not broken until 1951. Altogether he set 28 world records.
He raced ten times against the great marathoner Tom Longboat, winning all the races shorter than 20 miles and losing all the longer races.
In 1908 he became coach of the Harvard University cross-country team, leading it to a national title. From 1919 to 1928 he coached the Oxford University Athletics Club.

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Anne Audain
Anne Audain (born 1 November 1955 in Auckland) is a New Zealand middle and long distance athlete, competing in three Olympic Games. She has received the Member of the British Empire (MBE) medal from Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand for her services to athletics worldwide and was born as Anne Garrett.
At the age of 17 she came ninth in the 1973 World Cross Country Championships. She ran in the 1500 m at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, finishing sixth, and top New Zealander, in the final with 4 m 21.1s.
In the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Audain competed in both the 800 and 1500 m. Although she failed to get past the heats, she broke the New Zealand record for the 1500 m.
Prior to the start of the 1980s, major track and field athletics meetings had not had any women's events longer than 1500 metres. This started to change early in the new decade, and in March 1982, Audain competed in her first 5000 metres, breaking the world record. In the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane she won Gold in the 3000 metres in 8m 45.53s, a New Zealand record. The record stood for 25 Years until it was finally broken by Kimberley Smith of Auckland, when she ran 8min 35.31sec on the 25th of July 2007 in Monaco.

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António Leitão
António Carlos Carvalho Nogueira Leitão (22 July 1960 – 18 March 2012) was a Portuguese athlete who mainly competed in the long distance events. He was born in Espinho and died in Porto.
He competed for Portugal at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States where he won the bronze medal in the men's 5.000 metres event. Following this result, he was viewed as one of the most promising athletes in his specialty; however, several injuries prevented him from participating in any further Olympic Games.

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Ayelech Worku
Ayelech Worku (born June 12, 1979) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning two World Championships bronze medals on the 5000 metres. She was born in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia province, the same region as double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie.
Worku began competing at a young age: she won the 5000 m silver medal at the 1995 All-Africa Games when she was sixteen years old and won the event at the 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She gained selection for her first Olympics soon after and took part in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She finished twelfth in the 5000 m final but she was Ethiopia's best performer in the event. She attended her first World Championships in Athletics shortly after and finished 12th in the 5000 m.
She began to make progress in cross country running, taking the junior bronze at the 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships before helping Ethiopia to the team silver at the 1998 edition and then the team gold with a fourth place finish in the long race at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She finished third in the 1999–2000 IAAF World Cross Challenge. A ninth place at the 2000 World Championships competition brought yet another team gold for Ethiopia.

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Ben Jipcho
Ben Jipcho (born March 1, 1943) is a former athlete from Kenya, who won the silver medal in the 3000 meters steeplechase at the 1972 Summer Olympics, behind his teammate Kipchoge Keino.
Jipcho won the 5000 meters race in the 1973 All-Africa Games. He also won the gold medal in the 5000 m and 3000 m steeplechase, and the bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Jipcho may be as well known for his role in Keino's victory over Jim Ryun in the high altitude 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City as for his own athletic accomplishments. Sacrificing his own chances for a medal to team tactics, he pulled Keino through a 56 second first 400 meters, before being passed by his teammate with 800 meters to go and drifting back into the pack. By that point, Keino had established a lead of 20 meters or more, which Ryun's famous finishing speed could not erase. Jipcho later apologized to Ryun for acting as Keino's rabbit.
He was later quoted:
His granddaughter Esther Chemutai is also a runner, while he is a distant uncle to the siblings Linet Masai and Moses Masai.

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Benjamin Limo
Benjamin Kipkoech Limo (born August 23, 1974 in Chepkongony, Uasin Gishu) is a Kenyan middle distance runner. He runs every distance from 1500 m to 10,000 m, but mainly competes in 5,000 m, where he has won international medals.
Limo went to Chebara and Lelboinet High Schools, but enlisted for the Kenyan Army in 1993, without completing his studies. He started full-time training in 1996 and was based at an army camp in Ngong, near capital Nairobi. He competed at the 1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Marrakech, Morocco and finished fourth in the short race. It was his first race abroad.
His first international medals came in 1999, when he won the 1999 World Cross Country Championships and placed second in the 5,000 m at the World Championships, less than a second behind Salah Hissou. Remindfully, notice that this happened a year after he ran his first 5,000 m.
In 2002, Limo won silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and at the African Championships. In August 2005 he outsprinted Sileshi Sihine to become world champion. He won a bronze medal in the 5000m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

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Berhane Adere
Berhane Adere (Ge'ez:ብርሀኔ አደሬ born July 21, 1973 in Shewa) is an athlete from Ethiopia.
Adere held the African record for 10,000 metres in a time of 30:04.18, set at the 2003 World Championships, where she won gold. The African record was broken at the 2008 Olympics by Tirunesh Dibaba, who became the first African to run under 30 minutes.
Adere won the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2002, and the bronze medal in the 2001 World Half Marathon Championships.
She won the 2003 World Indoors 3000 metres.
She won the 2006 Chicago Marathon with a personal best time of 2:20:42.
Adere works for UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador for girls' education.
She won the Chicago Marathon again in 2007 and the Dubai Marathon on 18 January 2008.
Adere also won the 2007 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon.
She was the top female finisher in the 2010 Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon, in which she recorded the fastest ever half marathon on American soil with a time of 1:07:52, breaking her previous best by over 25 seconds. She saw off a challenge from Ana Dulce Félix to win at the Great North Run in September, completing the half marathon in 1:08:49.

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Bernard Lagat
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is an American middle and long distance champion athlete.
Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the USA, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his native country.
He is the American record holder in the 1500m, mile, 3000m, and 5000m indoors, as well as the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m outdoors, and is the Kenyan record holder at 1500m outdoors.
Lagat is a twelve time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals.
Lagat, now a Kenyan American, was born in Kaptel village, near Kapsabet town in Nandi District. He is a Nandi, sub-tribe of the Kalenjin people.
He graduated from the Kaptel High School in 1994, where he had started his athletics career. He joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi 1996. Later in the same year he moved to Washington State University where other Kenyan athletic greats such as Henry Rono and Michael Kosgei prospered.
In 1998, while at WSU, Lagat won three NCAA individual championships; indoor mile and 3000m, as well as the 5000m outdoors.

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Bill Dellinger
William ("Bill") Solon Dellinger (born March 23, 1934 in Grants Pass, Oregon) was a three time Olympian. He won a bronze medal in the 5.000 meters at Tokyo in 1964. He lettered in track at the University of Oregon in 1954, 1955, and 1956.
After retiring, Dellinger was an assistant coach to Bill Bowerman for the Oregon Ducks track and field team. He became head coach after Bowerman's retirement in 1972. In 25 years as coach, Dellinger won five NCAA titles, coached 108 All Americans, and had a 134-29 meet record.He was instrumental in the development and coaching of Oregon and American great distance star Steve Prefontaine in conjunction with coaching great Bill Bowerman. Dellinger also coached many post-collegians including Olympians Mary Decker, Alberto Salazar, Matt Centrowitz, Don Clary, and many others.
Dellinger joined his mentor Bill Bowerman as an inductee in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2001.
Records set by Dellinger:

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Bob Schul
Bob Schul (Robert Keyser Schul; born September 28, 1937) is a former American long distance runner. As of 2008, he is the only American to have won the Olympic gold medal in the 5000 m, at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

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Brahim Boutayeb
Moulay Brahim Boutayeb (Arabic: مولاي ابراهيم بوطيب‎; born 15 August 1967 in Khemisset) is a retired Moroccan athlete. He was the winner of the 10,000 m race at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Boutayeb was born in Khemisset, Morocco. Although he had been considered more a 5000 m runner before 1988, he was quite unknown until the Seoul Olympics.
The 10,000 m final at Seoul was started at a very fast pace, pushed along mostly by Kenyans, Kipkemboi Kimeli, and Moses Tanui. A small lead group reached the halfway mark at world record pace, at which point Boutayeb moved to lead. He continued the race at world record pace, but deliberately slowed after the bell to finish in a world's fourth fastest time of 27:21.46.
After the Olympic Games, Boutayeb decided to concentrate again on shorter distances, running his personal bests in distances from 1500 m to 5000 m over the couple of next seasons. He won a bronze medal in 5000 m at the 1991 World Championships held in Tokyo. At the Barcelona Olympic Games, Boutayeb came fourth in 5000 m, only 0.75 seconds behind the winner Dieter Baumann from Germany.

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Brahim Lahlafi
Brahim Lahlafi (Arabic: إبراهيم لحلافي‎) (born 15 April 1968, in Fes) is a retired long-distance runner who represented Morocco during his active career. He acquired French citizenship on 6 April 2002, but represented Morocco again from 15 March 2007.[1]
His greatest achievement was the Olympic bronze medal in 2000. This was his first medal at a major international event, having barely missed the podium at the 1995 World Cross Country Championships (5th place) and twice in 5000 metres at the World Championships; 1995 (5th) and 1999 (fourth). He did win a bronze medal in 3000 metres at the 1998 African Championships. He has the fastest 5000m time for a runner from neither Kenya nor Ethiopia (12:49.28).
In 1996 he was the winner of the inaugural Belgrade Race Through History competition. He beat Paul Tergat to the finish line of the 6 km race and remains the course record holder of the competition.

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Craig Mottram
Craig Mottram is an Australian long distance and middle distance runner who specialises in the 5000 m event.
Mottram was born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria. He attended the prestigious Geelong Grammar School.
At 6 feet 2 inches, Mottram is unusually tall for a distance runner. Amongst some African runners he is known as the Big Mzungu (Big White Man).
Mottram competed in his first Olympic Games at only 20 years of age in the 5000-meter event: he did not qualify out of his heat, but finished in 8th place with a respectable time of 13 minutes, 31.06 seconds in Sydney. He would fare better in his next Olympic competition: with four additional years of experience and athletic maturity, Mottram qualified for the final of the 5000-meter event and finished 8th with a time of 13:25.70 in Athens.
In 2005, he set a course record to win the Great Ireland Run in a third consecutive win at the competition. On 14 August 2005, Mottram reached a career highlight, coming third in the 5000 m event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, running the event in 13 minutes, 32.96 seconds. He was the first non-African to receive a medal in that event since 1987.

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Daniel Komen
Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born May 17, 1976 in Elgeyo-Marakwet District, Kenya) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, Komen's most notable achievements came in a two-year period between 1996 and 1998, during which he broke a string of world records. Komen's 1998 indoor and 1996 outdoor records for 3,000m still stand, and he remains the only man to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles. Komen was also the second man, after Saïd Aouita, to break both the 13-minute mark for the 5,000m and the 3½-minute mark for the 1,500m.^{[citation needed]}
Komen is from the Keiyo sub-tribe of Kalenjin people and grew up in a rural area of Kenya's Rift Valley Province. One of fourteen children, Komen began running at the age of seven as a means of getting to and from school. Komen had an exceptional junior career: at age 17, he placed second at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, and in 1994, he became the World Junior Champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

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David Moorcroft
David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2007. He received an MBE in 1983 and an OBE in 1998 for services to British sport. Moorcroft is still the UK record holder for 3,000 metres.
Moorcroft was born to Robert and Mildred (née Hardy) Moorcroft on 10 April 1953 in Coventry,West Midlands and he has an elder sister. He was a pupil at Woodlands Comprehensive School and Tile Hill College. He studied Physical Education and Sport Science at Loughborough University. He has been a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club since 1964 and is currently the club’s President.
Moorcroft made his senior debut for Great Britain in 1973 and competed in his first Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, placing seventh in the 1,500-metre final. He won gold in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton at 1500 metres. Just four weeks later, he won the bronze medal at the same distance in the European Athletics Championships in Prague. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he suffered from stomach problems and was eliminated in the 5,000-metres semifinals.

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Dejen Gebremeskel
Dejen Gebremeskel (born November 24, 1989) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who primarily competes in track events. His personal best for the 5000 metres is 12:53.56 minutes. He won the bronze medal over that distance at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics.
He won his first track medals as a junior, coming second at the African Junior Athletics Championships, then taking the bronze medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He was a finalist at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Dejen Gebremeskel grew up in the rural setting of Ethiopia's Gulo-Makeda woreda and took up running as a child, representing his school. He began competing around the Tigray Region and after establishing himself in local races, he moved to Addis Ababa to train with the national team. He won his first international medal at the 2007 African Junior Athletics Championships, taking the silver medal over 5000 metres behind Mathew Kisorio. He also competed abroad for the first time that year, running a personal best of 13:21.05 minutes to take sixth in the 5000 m at the Flanders Cup meeting in Brasschaat. He ran for Ethiopia at the International Chiba Ekiden in 2008 and helped the team to victory, running the fastest time for his leg of the road relay.

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Derek Ibbotson
George Derek Ibbotson MBE (born June 17, 1932 in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) was an English runner who excelled in athletics in the 1950s. His most famous achievement was setting a new world record in the mile in 1957.
Ibbotson was born in Huddersfield and studied at King James's Grammar School in Almondbury. He was of the generation that included other great British milers such as Roger Bannister, Chris Brasher and Christopher Chataway. He was the junior champion in Britain in 1951.
After service in the Royal Air Force, Ibbotson returned to competition. In 1956 at Melbourne, he won a bronze medal in the 5,000 meters. After the Games, Ibbotson focused on the mile run, which was probably an error. Ibbotson began the 1957 season running in mile races, as a 5000m or 3 mile runner would often do in the early part of the facing season - to race at a faster pace than he would need in those longer distances. After he had run a particularly fast mile at a Glasgow, an experienced athletics official told the BBC that while it was a very good time, he and many others felt that Ibbotson’s greater potential was over 5000m or 3 miles. Unfortunately, somebody then organised one of the many “miles of the century” and Ibbotson won, probably because Delaney, the 1500m champion at Melbourne the previous year, was boxed in at a crucial point on the final lap. The time was a new world record, taking .8 of a second off John Landy's time of 3.58min set in 1954. The result was that Ibbotson went on running in mile races throughout the season - although also taking part in some longer distance events - and he ran a great number of races and ended the season exhausted. It was not just the number of races but the faster pace at which they were run.

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Dick Quax
Theodorus Jacobus Leonardus "Dick" Quax (born 1 January 1948 in Alkmaar, Netherlands) is a New Zealand runner and former world record holder in the 5000 metres. He stood for Parliament with the ACT Party in 1999 and 2002. He served as a Manukau City councillor from 2001 to 2007, when he stood unsuccessfully for mayor.
At the 1970 British Commonwealth Games, Quax won the silver medal in the 1500 metres. He competed in the 5000 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics but was eliminated in the heats. Quax won silver in the 5000 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
In 1977 at Stockholm, Sweden he set a new world record time of 13m 12.9s in the 5000 metres. This record would stand less than a year, but as a national record it stood for over 31 years, until beaten by Adrian Blincoe in July 2008.
Early in 1980, at the Stanford Stadium track, Quax just missed Jos Hermens' 15K World Record by five seconds, running a New Zealand national record of 43:01.7
In his later career Quax switched his focus to the marathon, running a 2:11:13 in his debut marathon for 4th place at the Nike/OTC Marathon race in 1979, at that time the fastest debut marathon in history. In 1980 he returned and won the race in a New Zealand record time of 2:10:47 He did not compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to the West's boycott.

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Dieter Baumann
Dieter Baumann (born February 9, 1965) is a former German athlete and winner of 5000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in Blaustein, Germany (then West Germany), Dieter Baumann was one of the few non-African athletes who were able to seriously challenge the African dominance of middle-distance running during the 1990s. Baumann was equally adept at both the 1500 m and 5000 m distances.
Although Baumann came second in the 3000 m at the European Indoor Championships in 1987, few considered him a medal chance at the Seoul Olympic Games. The 5000 m final at Seoul was won by John Ngugi from Kenya who broke away from the field early in the race. However, Baumann used his superior 1500 m speed to outsprint the rest of the field in the final lap to win the silver medal. Baumann missed most of the 1990 season due to tendon trouble, but he returned in 1991 to finish fourth in the 5000 m at the World Championships in Tokyo. At the end of the season, Baumann unexpectedly beat the Kenyan 5000 m world champion Yobes Ondieki over 3000 m in Cologne.

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Domingos Castro
Domingos Silva Castro (born 22 November 1963 in Fermentões-Guimarães) is a former long-distance runner from Portugal, who was one of the leading athletes in the longer events during the late 1980s, early 1990s. He won the silver medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1987 World Championships. As a marathoner, he won the 1995 edition of the Paris Marathon, clocking 2:10:06, and the Rotterdam Marathon of 1997, in his personal best of 2:07:51. He won the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños four times in his career – more than any other athlete.
His twin brother Dionísio was also a world class athlete in the long-distance events. The two of them represented their native country at the 1988 (Seoul, South Korea) and 1992 Summer Olympics (Barcelona, Spain). Domingos also competed in the 1996 (Atlanta, Georgia) and 2000 Summer Olympics (Sydney, Australia).

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Dong Yanmei
Dong Yanmei (born 16 February 1977 in Xuengdong, Liaoning Province) is a Chinese long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres. She has not competed on the top level since 2002.

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Eamonn Coghlan
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan (born 21 November 1952) is an Irish Senator and former athlete, who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5000 metres. He is a 3-time Olympian and former world champion in the 5000 m.
Born in Drimnagh, a successful amateur running career in Ireland led to a scholarship in the United States, where he won four NCAA titles in track running and ran a sub-four minute mile to set an Irish record at 22 years of age. He soon set the European record over the distance. His speciality was the indoor mile run – he gained his nickname, "The Chairman of the Boards", as a result of being the seven-time champion of the Wanamaker Mile. He broke the indoor mile world record on four occasions, and also set the world record over 1500 m.
He finished fourth in the 1500 m at the 1976 Summer Olympics, finished fourth again in the 5000 m at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and made the 5000 m semi-final in his last Olympic appearance at the 1988 Summer Games. He experienced greater success in the 1500 m at the European Athletics Championships: he won the 1500 m at the 1979 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and outdoors took silver in the event at the 1978 European Athletics Championships. He was also the 5000 m champion at the IAAF World Cup in 1981 and he became the world 5000 metres champion at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics.

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Edith Masai
Edith Chewangel Masai (born 4 April 1967) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country and track races, then road races in her late career. She represented Kenya at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her best achievements are three individual gold medals in the short race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships between 2002 and 2004.
She is also known for reaching global top at the age of 35. On the track she was the bronze medallist over 5000 metres at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and was the 2006 African Champion over 10,000 metres. She has also won silver medals over 10,000 m at the 2007 All-Africa Games and 5000 m at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Her track best of 8:23.23 minutes for the 3000 metres, set in 2002, remains the African record for the event. Over the marathon distance, she ran her career best of 2:27:06 hours to win the 2005 Hamburg Marathon.
Masai was born in Chepkoya village, Mount Elgon District. She competed during her high school days while at Kibuk Secondary School. She graduated in 1988. She joined Kenya Prisons Service in 1990, known for recruiting many talented athletes. Masai did not, however, achieve anything until 1999, when she became the national cross-country champion, at the age of 32. Consequently, she started training more seriously. She won the Lotto Cross Cup Brussels in 2001 and went on to take bronze in the short race at the World Cross Country Championships that year. She improved upon this the following year, taking the gold at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

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Edvin Wide
Emil Edvin Wide (February 22, 1896 – June 19, 1996) was a Swedish long-distance runner.
Born in Finland, Wide competed for Sweden at the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium, in the 3000 metre team, where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Eric Backman and Sven Lundgren.
He returned to the Olympics four years later in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France, where he had his greatest Olympic success in winning the silver medal in the 10,000 metres behind Ville Ritola of Finland. He also finished behind Ville in the 5,000 metres in winning his second Olympic bronze medal in a race won by Ville’s team mate Paavo Nurmi.
At the 1928 Summer Olympics the 5,000 metre medals went to the same people as in 1924, only the Finns swapped medals, leaving Edvin with his third Olympic bronze medal. He then finished behind the same two yet again for the third time in Olympic competition to win the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres. He died in Stockholm at age 100.

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Edwin Soi
Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (born March 3, 1986 in Kericho) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres.
His earliest honours were team gold medals with Kenya at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2006 and 2007. Soi has had his success on the track – he was the 5000 m bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was highly successful at the IAAF World Athletics Final, taking three gold and three silver medals from 2006 to 2008. He became the continental champion on the track at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics.
Soi has won numerous 10K road races in his career; he has won three times consecutively at the BOclassic, Memorial Peppe Greco and Giro Media Blenio races. Other circuit victories include the Cursa de Bombers and Giro al Sas and his personal best for the distance is 27:46 minutes.
Soi had his first running successes when undertaking a tour of races in Spain in 2004. He won the Cursa Bombers 10K in Barcelona and won a second 10K race in Madrid that November. His first opportunity to represent Kenya internationally came in 2006, as he gained selection for the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships with a fourth place finish at the national short cross country race. He finished in eighth place in the short race and helped Kenya to the team gold medal, alongside Isaac Kiprono Songok, Benjamin Limo and Augustine Kiprono Choge.

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Ejegayehu Dibaba
Ejegayehu Dibaba (Amharic: አጀጋየሁ ዲባባ; born March 21, 1982 in Bekoji) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group from the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She is the third child of six, her younger sisters Tirunesh and Genzebe are also international long distance athletes, and brother Dejene is marked as a future star. Like her sister Tirunesh, her cousin Derartu Tulu is a double Olympic gold medalist (1992 and 2000).
Ejegayehu beat her cousin to take the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics, her two bronze medals at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics were behind her sister winning the gold in the final sprint.
She took part in a 7 km race at the Memorial Peppe Greco in September 2010 and took second place behind Sylvia Kibet.
Ejegayehu made her debut over the marathon distance at the 2011 Chicago Marathon and, even though she was well-beaten by Liliya Shobukhova (who became the second fastest woman ever), she was the runner-up and made the third fastest marathon debut with her time of 2:22:09 hours.

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Elana Meyer
Elana Meyer (born October 10, 1966 in Albertinia) is a former long-distance runner from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 m event.
Meyer set the 15 kilometres road running African record of 46:57 minutes in November 1991 in Cape Town. The record was equalled by Mestawet Tufa in 2008. The record was beaten by Tirunesh Dibaba in 2009, who posted a new world record of 46.28 minutes.
Meyer also held the half marathon African record (1:06:44 hours), set in January 1999 in Tokyo. The record was broken by Mary Keitany of Kenya at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships by running the distance in 1:06:36 hours.

wn.com/Elana_Meyer

Eliud Kipchoge
Eliud Kipchoge (born 5 November 1984 in Kapsisiywa, Nandi District) is a Kenyan long distance runner who has won medals at Olympic and World level.
He came to prominence in 2003 by winning the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, setting a world junior record over 5000 metres on the track and then becoming world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. An Olympic 5000 m bronze for Kenya followed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and he took another bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
A series of silver medals came, starting at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics before another runner-up placing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was fifth at the 2009 World Championships but again reached the podium at the 2010 Commonwealth Games; he was second behind Moses Kipsiro in both the 5000 m and 10,000 metres. He has won four medals at editions of the annual IAAF World Athletics Final and is a five-time 5000 m finalist at the World Championships.
His 3000 metres best of 7:27.72 ranks him among the top ten at the distance and his 5000 m best of 12:46.53 makes him the fourth fastest ever in the event.

wn.com/Eliud_Kipchoge

Elvan Abeylegesse
Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish)) (Amharic: አልቫን አበይለገሠ; born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long distance track and field athlete, running in the disciplines of 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m, but also 10000 m, 2 miles and cross country. She is the former world-record holder for 5000 m, at 14:24.68.
Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on September 11, 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Coming to Istanbul, she said that she liked it there very much. "I didn't get enough support from my federation in Ethiopia," she said. "My track club in Turkey gave me all the support I needed. So I decided to move to Turkey. The support was much better in Istanbul. I thought it would be easier to reach my goals in Turkey.” To get Turkish citizenship, she married and took the name Elvan Can. She has since divorced and is now called Elvan Abeylegesse.

wn.com/Elvan_Abeylegesse

Emiel Puttemans
Emiel Puttemans (born 8 October 1947) is a retired middle- and long-distance runner, who set world records for 3000 metres (7 minutes 37.6 seconds) in 1972, for 2 miles (8 minutes 17.8 seconds) in 1971, and for 5000 metres (13 minutes 13 seconds) in 1972.
Puttemans was born in Leuven, Belgium. He won a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in on the 10,000 metres and finished in fifth place in the 5000 metres event.

wn.com/Emiel_Puttemans

Emil Zátopek
Emil Zátopek (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɛmɪl ˈzaːtopɛk] (

listen)) (September 19, 1922 – November 22, 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. He was nicknamed the "Czech Locomotive" for his multiple golds.
Zátopek was the first athlete to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10 km run (in 1954). Three years earlier, in 1951, he had broken the hour for running 20 km. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest runners of the 20th century and was also known for his brutally tough training methods.
Emil Zátopek was born in Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia on September 19, 1922, as the sixth child of a modest family. When Zátopek was 16, he began working in a Bata shoe factory in Zlín. Zátopek says that "One day, the factory sports coach, who was very strict, pointed at four boys, including me, and ordered us to run in a race. I protested that I was weak and not fit to run, but the coach sent me for a physical examination, and the doctor said that I was perfectly well. So I had to run, and when I got started, I felt I wanted to win. But I only came in second. That was the way it started." Zátopek finished second out of the field of 100. After that point, he began to take a serious interest in running.

wn.com/Emil_Zátopek

Eric Backman
Eric Backman (May 18, 1896, Tidaholm Municipality – June 29, 1965) was a Swedish athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metre team.
He competed for Sweden at the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium where he won the silver medal in the men's cross country behind the legendary Paavo Nurmi. This second place helped the Swedish team, which also included Gustaf Mattsson and Hilding Ekman, to the bronze medal behind Finland and Great Britain.
He also competed in the 3,000 metre team where he won another Bronze medal with his team mates Sven Lundgren and Edvin Wide. He competed his tally of four medals in one Olympics by winning the bronze medal in the 5,000 metres again finishing behind Paavo Nurmi but the race was won by France with Joseph Guillemot.

wn.com/Eric_Backman

Fernanda Ribeiro
Maria Fernanda Moreira Ribeiro, GCIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɐ ʁiˈbɐjɾu], born June 23, 1969), is a long-distance runner, born in Penafiel, Portugal. She achieved the top of her career in the 1996 Summer Olympics where she won the women's 10,000 m gold medal, giving Portugal their 3rd Olympic gold (all in the long distance), and establishing a new Olympic record - 31:01.63.
Fernanda made her first steps into athletics at Grupo Desportivo do Kolossal, before joining FC Porto, which she represented in 1982-1992. After a 2-year passage through Maratona Clube da Maia, Fernanda returned to FC Porto where she competed until recently. Along with her sporting career, she works at her town hall as a sports advisor to the mayor.
She is the most medalled Portuguese athlete ever, having participated in five Olympics (Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) and many more European and World Championships.
In the 2004 Olympics, Fernanda ran the final but eventually gave up during the race due to physical problems.

wn.com/Fernanda_Ribeiro

Fernando Mamede
Fernando Eugénio Pacheco Mamede (born 1 November 1951) is a former Portuguese athlete, a long distance running specialist. He was born in Beja. Together with Carlos Lopes, he is one of the best Portuguese male long distance runners ever, and held the 10,000 metres world record (1984-1989) with a time of 27:13.81 until bested by Arturo Barrios of Mexico. However, he never won any high-level competition as he dealt very badly with pressure.
In the European and World Athletics Championships and Olympics where he competed between 1971 and 1984, he either was eliminated from the finals, placed outside the top ten runners in them or dropped out of the final. In the 1983 World Championships in Athletics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he ran excellently in the 10,000-metre qualifying heats, but he placed 14th in the World Championships final and failed to finish in the Olympic final.
He remains one of fastest Europeans of all time in the 10,000 metres.
Mamede also competed in cross country running, taking part in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships eleven times. His cross country career was highlighted by a bronze medal at the 1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and two wins at the Cross Internacional de Itálica.

wn.com/Fernando_Mamede

Fita Bayisa
Fita Bayisa (Amharic: ፍታ ባይሳ; born December 15, 1972 in Ambo), Oromia is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning a bronze medal on the 5000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics. A year before he had won a silver medal at the World Championships in Tokyo. Before the Olympic Games in Barcelona Bayisa had emerged as the favourite for 10,000 metres, as he had defeated a world-class field at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a time of 27:14.26 min. However, he failed to make an impact on the 10,000 m final, which was won by Khalid Skah.
Among his other achievements, he was the winner of the 1999 Belgrade Race Through History. He beat Paul Tergat by a second in the unusual race across Belgrade's city fortress.

wn.com/Fita_Bayisa

Gabriela Szabo
Gabriela Szabo (Romanian pronunciation: [ɡabriˈela ˈsabo], Hungarian: Szabó Gabriella; born November 14, 1975 in Bistriţa) is a Romanian track and field athlete of Hungarian ethnicity, winner of the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in 5000 m and winner of bronze and silver medals in 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics in 1500 m, respectively.
Szabo is also a three-time world champion. She always had a single coach, Zsolt Gyöngyössy, whom she eventually married. In May 2005 she announced her withdrawal from professional sport. She remains the European record holder over 3000 m.
She retired from athletics in 2005 amid health problems and a decline in her performance, citing exhaustion.

wn.com/Gabriela_Szabo

Gaston Reiff
Gaston Reiff (24 February 1921 – 6 May 1992) was a Belgian athlete, winner of the 1948 Olympic title in the 5,000 m.
Reiff was born in Braine-l'Alleud, and competed in boxing and football before switching to running. His greatest performance is no doubt his 5000 m title at the 1948 Summer Olympics. In a rainy London, he held off Czechoslovakian Emil Zátopek, winner of the 10000 m, who closed in fast in the final meters. By winning, he became the first Belgian track and field athlete to win an Olympic title.
Apart from his Olympic championship, Reiff also set world records in the 2000 m, 3000 m and 2 miles, and won a bronze medal in the 5000 m at the 1950 European Championships. He won 24 national titles, and set 26 national records; in 1951 he possessed all Belgian records on distances ranging from 1000 m to 10000 m. In 1952, he failed to retain his Olympic title in Helsinki, and had to abandon the final.
Reiff died in his birthplace at age 71. Nearly ten years after his death, he was placed third in the Walloon athlete of the 20th century election.

wn.com/Gaston_Reiff

Gelete Burka
Gelete Burka (full name Gelete Burka Bati, sometimes misspelled Burika; Amharic: ገለቴ ቡርቃ; born January 23, 1986) is an Ethiopian middle distance runner. She was born in Kofele in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, the same district as double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie.
Burka's first significant achievement was at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she won the bronze in the junior race. She made her first impact in senior athletics later that year when, following the Ethiopian federation's refusal to allow Merima Denboba to compete, Burka took the women's race at the Lotto Cross Cup Brussels. She returned to Belgium the following year and repeated the feat. After becoming junior world champion in cross country running at the 2005 World XC Championships, she competed at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics to finish 8th in the 1500 metres race. A month later she won the bronze medal in 3000 metres at the World Athletics Final. She closed the season with a win at the Spanish Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños.

wn.com/Gelete_Burka

George Hutson
George William Hutson (December 22, 1889 – September 14, 1914) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the long distance events.
He competed for Great Britain in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden in the 5000 metres where he won the bronze medal. He also joined team mates William Cottrill and Cyril Porter to win his second bronze of the games in the 3000 metre team race.
Hutson was killed in action during the First World War, serving as a serjeant with the Royal Sussex Regiment during the Battle of the Marne. His remains were not recovered and his name is recorded on the La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial.

wn.com/George_Hutson

Gete Wami
Getenesh ("Gete") Wami (Ge'ez:ጌጤነሽ 'ጌጤ' ዋሚ born December 11, 1974 in Debre Berhan) is a female Ethiopian cross country and track runner.
Wami won gold at the 1999 World Championships in Seville, timing 30:24.56, which was a new African Record and Championships Record. She also won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 1999 All-Africa Games that year. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, having taken the long race title in 1996 and then the short race title in 2001.
Wami won the 2006 Berlin Marathon, finishing in front of Salina Kosgei and Monika Drybulska on September 24. She was expected to beat the world record over 15 km during the Zevenheuvelenloop in and around Nijmegen on 19 November 2006, but failed. Wami finished in second position during the race, nine seconds behind Mestewat Tufa, who finished in 47:22.
In 2007, Wami won the Berlin Marathon again. She competed in the New York Marathon thirty-five days later and she finished 23 seconds behind Paula Radcliffe. Her second-place finish gave her the World Marathon Majors Series Title, earning herself the $500,000 jackpot.

wn.com/Gete_Wami

Gordon Pirie
Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie (February 10, 1931 – December 7, 1991) was an English long-distance runner. He was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England and died of cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in Lymington, Hampshire.
In 1955 he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. During that year he had beaten the legendary triple Gold medalist in distance running at the 1952 Olymics, Emil Zatopek. Gordon Pirie broke 5 world records in the course of his career, his annus mirabilis being 1956, when on June 19 in Bergen, Norway, he ran 13:36.8 for 5000 m, beating Vladimir Kuts (USSR), and knocking 25 seconds from his own personal best. On June 22 in Trondheim, Norway, he equalled the world 3000 metres record with 7:55.6, and on 14 September, in Malmö, Sweden, he set up a new record with 7:52.7. He ran one sub-4 minute mile clocking 3:59.9 and, on hearing the result, shouted out 'I've done, I've done it!'.
In the Olympics, held in Melbourne later that year, Pirie was unlucky. He ran against Kuts in the 10,000 metres and despite the tactics of Kuts, an aggressive front runner whose bursts of speed were particularly damaging to a long-striding runner like Pirie, he stayed with him into the last mile when every other competitor had dropped well back. Kuts then surrendered the lead for a short while, then made a last, despairing sprint which Pirie could not match and he dropped back. Kuts said later that if Pirie had stayed with him on that last sprint he would have dropped out of the race.^{[citation needed]}

wn.com/Gordon_Pirie

Gunder Hägg
Gunder Hägg (December 31, 1918, Albacken – November 27, 2004) was a Swedish runner and multiple world record breaker of the 1940s. Gunder Hägg set over a dozen middle distance world records at events ranging from 1500 to 5000 meters, including three at both the 1500 meters and the mile, one at 3000 meters and one at 5000 meters.
Hägg and fellow Swede, Arne Andersson, lowered the record for the mile to just over four minutes (4:01.4) - accelerating the progression of the world record in the mile run. Both athletes set three world records for the mile. Hägg first set the record in July 1942 at 4:06.2, a time which was equalled by Anderson later the same month. This record was broken by Hägg (4:04.6) in September the same year. Andersson recaptured the world record in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg had the last word when he ran 4:01.4 in Malmö in 1945 (Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 mile in Oxford in 1954).

wn.com/Gunder_Hägg

Gunnar Höckert
Gunnar Mikael Höckert (February 12, 1910, Helsinki – February 11, 1940) was a Finnish athlete, winner of 5000 m at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Born in Helsinki to a wealthy family, Gunnar Höckert had only one great season in 1936.
The 5000 m final at the Berlin Olympics started in a good pace. The tempo was dictated by American Donald Lash, but he was overtaken by three Finns after 2,000 m. Soon the race turned into a battle between Höckert and defending Olympic Champion and world record holder Lauri Lehtinen. In the last lap Höckert overran Lehtinen to win in a world's season best time of 14:22.2.
Later on that season, on September 16 in Stockholm, Höckert ran a new world record in 3,000 m (8:14.8). A week later, on the same track, Höckert ran a new world record in 2 miles (8:57.4) and another week later, he equalled the Jules Ladoumègue's 2,000 m world record 5:21.8 in Malmö.
The rest of the Höckert's athletics career was hampered by rheumatism, and he never achieved the times ran in 1936. He went to the Winter War as a volunteer. 2nd lieutenant Gunnar Höckert was killed on the Karelian Isthmus just one day before his thirtieth birthday.

wn.com/Gunnar_Höckert

Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie (Amharic: ኃይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ^?, haylē gebre silassē; born 18 April, 1973) is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion.
Gebrselassie had major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He broke 61 Ethiopian National Records ranging from 800 meters to the marathon, set 27 world records, and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.
In September 2008, at the age of 35, he won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds. The record stood for three years. Since he was over the age of 35, that mark still stands as the Masters Age group world record.

wn.com/Haile_Gebrselassie

Hannes Kolehmainen
Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen (

pronunciation (help·info)) (9 December 1889, Kuopio – 11 January 1966) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He is considered to be the first of a generation of great Finnish long distance runners, often named the "Flying Finns". Kolehmainen competed for a number of years in the United States, wearing the Winged Fist of the Irish American Athletic Club. He also enlisted in the 14th Regiment of the National Guard of New York, and became a U.S. citizen in 1921.
Kolehmainen, a devoted vegetarian and bricklayer by trade, was from a sportive family from Kuopio (his brothers Willy and Tatu, also an Olympian, were also strong long distance runners). He was one of the stars of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, winning three gold medals. His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin. After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres – in World Record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10000 m and the now discontinued cross country event. With the Finnish team, he also obtained a silver place in the cross country team event.

wn.com/Hannes_Kolehmainen

Hans Grodotzki
Hans Grodotzki (born 4 April 1936 in Preussisch Holland, East Prussia) was an East German athlete who competed mainly in the distance events.
He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy in the 10,000 metres where he won the silver medal. In the 5000 metres he repeated this winning a second silver medal.

wn.com/Hans_Grodotzki

Hansjörg Kunze
Hansjörg Kunze (born 28 December 1959 in Rostock) is a German track and field athlete. He represented East Germany as a long distance runner.
His biggest success was the bronze medal in the 5,000 meter run at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. He represented Empor Rostock sport club.
He had a spectacular win on 9 September 1981 in Rieti, Italy, when he set a European record in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 13:10.40 and beat Kenyan Henry Rono who had dominated that season. With this win he also set himself apart from his longtime rival in East Germany, Werner Schildhauer.
Kunze's bronze medal at 5,000 metres in the 1988 Seoul Olympics can be found, for example, in the Finnish "Great Olympic Book" / Suuri Olympiateos, volume 5, published in Finland in 1988. His bronze-medal performances at 10,000 metres in the 1983 and 1987 World Championships can be found, for example, in the Finnish-language books about those World Championships, edited and published by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine. Also Wolfgang Wünsche's class book about athletics, "The Heroes of Race Tracks," in its 1984 edition (translated into Finnish), includes references to Kunze's bronze medal in the 1983 World Championships, his decision not to run the 5,000 metres in those championships, his failure at 5,000 metres in the 1982 European Championships (he finished ninth after being pushed around in the crowded group of runners - see, for example, a Finnish book called "Highlights of Top Sports" / Huippu-urheilun tähtihetkiä), and his success at 5,000 metres in the 1981 European Athletics Cup. Kunze finished second to Eamonn Coghlan in the very slow World Athletics Cup 5,000-metre race in 1981 (see, for example, a Finnish sports book called "Events of Top Sports Until 1982" / Huippu-urheilun tapahtumat vuoteen 1982).

wn.com/Hansjörg_Kunze

Harald Norpoth
Harald Norpoth (born August 22, 1942) is a West German former middle and long distance runner. Born in Münster, he won the silver medal over 5000m at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as a member of the United Team of Germany. He had already competed in the 1962 European Athletics Championships, where he had fallen and dropped out of the 1,500-metre final. His high quality as both a 1,500-metre and a 5,000-metre runner was proved in the 1966 European Athletics Championships, where he won the bronze medal at 1,500 metres and the silver medal at 5,000 metres.
At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico Norpoth dropped out of the 5000m and finished fourth over 1500m. He also set a 2000m world record of 4:57.8 minutes in September 1966 in Hagen, Germany. Norpoth remained an international-level 5,000-metre runner until his retirement from competitive running in 1973, because he finished third in the 1971 European Championships 5,000-metre final, losing by 1.2 seconds to the winner, Finland's Juha Väätäinen. In the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, he finished sixth at 5,000 metres, losing by 6.2 seconds to the winner, Finland's Lasse Virén, and placing as the fourth best European. In his farewell run at 5,000 metres in 1973, he set a personal record and defeated Steve Prefontaine of the United States. Norpoth was known as a sharp kicker, although he also could endure a fast pace when he was in peak shape (see, for example, Wünsche; "The Great European Championships Book"; Antero Raevuori, ed., "Lasse Viren: The Gilded Spikes" / Lasse Viren: Kullatut piikkarit, published in Finland in 1976; Matti Hannus, "The Thousand Stars of Athletics" / Yleisurheilun tuhat tähteä, published in Finland in 1983). He is a first cousin of political scientist Helmut Norpoth.

wn.com/Harald_Norpoth

Henry Jonsson
Henry John Jonsson (May 12, 1912 – March 9, 2001) was a Swedish long distance runner who changed his name in 1940 to Henry Kälarne. He was born in Håsjö in Jämtland.
He competed for Sweden in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in the 5000 metres where he won the bronze medal. He also competed at the 1938 European Championships, finishing second behind Taisto Mäki. He died in Stockholm.

wn.com/Henry_Jonsson

Henry Rono
Henry Rono (born February 12, 1952 in Kapsabet) is a Kenyan former athlete.
Rono was born in Nandi Hills, Kenya, into the Nandi tribe. He started running while at primary school. Starting in 1976 he attended the Washington State University, along with his compatriot Samson Kimobwa, who broke the 10,000 meter world record in 1977. He was coached there by John Chaplin. More Kenyan runners would later enroll at the Washington State, including Bernard Lagat, Mike Kosgei, and Patrick Muturi. While at Washington State, Rono became only the third person in history (after Gerry Lindgren and Steve Prefontaine) to win the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship three times, doing so in 1976, 1977, and 1979. His winning time of 28:07 in 1976 remains the fastest 10,000 meter cross country time in NCAA history (although in 2008 Galen Rupp ran 27:41 at the NCAA regional meet on a course that was said to be 80 meters short of the regular measure). He was also NCAA steeplechase champion in 1978 and 1979 and NCAA Indoor Champion in the 3000 meters in 1977.

wn.com/Henry_Rono

Herbert Schade
Herbert Schade (May 26, 1922 – March 1, 1994) was a West German athlete who competed mainly in the 5000 metres.
He competed for West Germany in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in the 5000 metres where he won the bronze medal.

wn.com/Herbert_Schade

Hicham El Guerrouj
Hicham El Guerrouj "King of the Mile" (Moroccan Arabic: هشام الݣروج‎, born September 14, 1974, Berkane) is a Moroccan former middle distance runner. He is the current holder of the 1500 metres, mile and outdoor 2000 metres world records, as well as a double Olympic gold medalist. From about 1995 until his retirement from serious competition following the 2004 Olympics, he was the dominant middle distance runner of his day.
Hicham El Guerrouj's first international triumph was in 1992 at age 18, when he was 3rd in the 5000 metres of the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, behind Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.
In 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the 1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time.
El Guerrouj rose to international prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the 1500 metres and mile. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best over 1500 metres in 3:29.59 in Stockholm, he was considered one of the favourites for the Olympic gold.

wn.com/Hicham_El_Guerrouj

Ingrid Kristiansen
Ingrid Kristiansen née Christensen (born 21 March 1956 in Trondheim, Norway), was one of the best female long distance runners in the second half of the 1980s. She finished in fourth place in the first women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Kristiansen started her career quite unremarkably, running 2:30 - 2:40 for her first few marathons. It was not until she gave birth to her first son, Gaute, that she began to improve. After winning the Houston Marathon and the London Marathon in 1984, she placed fourth in the first Olympic women's marathon in Los Angeles. She also set two track world records in the 5,000m (14:58.9) and the 10,000m (30:59.14) at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
In 1985 she won the London Marathon again in a new world record of 2:21:06, smashing Joan Benoit's world record of 2:22:43, set in the Boston Marathon in 1983. Later that year she lost to Joan Benoit in the Chicago Marathon, running 2:23:05 for second place.
1986 was Kristiansen's best year in track. After she won the Boston Marathon in hot conditions, she set a new world record in the 10,000m (30:13.3), smashing her own world record from 1984. Then she broke the 5,000m world record, running 14:37.89. After that she broke the half marathon world record in Sandnes, running 1:06:40, but the course was not certified and the record still remained Joan Benoit's. She won the Chicago Marathon, once again in hot and humid conditions, running 2:27:08. She ended the year winning the European Championships 10,000m gold medal, running the 2nd fastest time ever (30:23.3) and nearly 40 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

wn.com/Ingrid_Kristiansen

Isabella Ochichi
Isabella Bosibori Ochichi (born October 28, 1979 in Kisii District) from Kenya was the silver medal winner in the final of the women's 5,000 meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. She finished in a time of 14:48.19, about 2.5 seconds behind the winner, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia.
In 1997, aged 17, she competed in France for her first overseas races. She was selected to represent Kenya at the 2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where she finished eight. She competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships between 2002 and 2006, the best result being short race bronze medals in 2002 and 2005.
In March 2006 she won the same distance at the Commonwealth Games. In April the same year she won the silver medal in the team competition at the World Cross Country Championships, having finished 10th in the short race, a distance in which she won bronze medals in 2002 and 2005.
She is married to David Maina, who is also a runner and competes in road racing. She is managed by Gwenaël Vigot and coached by Veronique Billat.

wn.com/Isabella_Ochichi

Ismael Kirui
Ismael Kirui (born 20 February 1975 in Kapcherop, Marakwet District) is a former Kenyan long distance runner who won gold medals over 5000 metres at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships in Athletics.
His victory in Stuttgart in 1993 was especially impressive as he was only aged eighteen and led the race from the front for most of the second half. On the final straight he shrugged off an attack from Haile Gebreselassie. His winning time of 13:02.75 minutes was a new World Championships record. He became the youngest world champion, aged 18 years 177 days. The same year he broke the World junior record in 5000 metres in Zurich by running 13:06.50
His gold medal in 1995 was won under very different circumstances as the final was run at a slow pace and decided in a sprint.
Ismael Kirui is the younger brother of the late Richard Chelimo. Other relatives include brother William "Willy" Kirui, half-sister Catherine Kirui and cousins Moses Kiptanui and William Mutwol. He is married to Rose Cheruiyot. He and Cheruiyot completed an unusual married couple's double when they won the men's and women's races, respectively, at the Belfast International Cross Country in 1995.

wn.com/Ismael_Kirui

Jack Buckner
Jack Richard Buckner (born 22 September 1961) was one of the many British athletes of the mid 1980s who dominated track and field. Educated at St. Petroc's preparatory school in Cornwall and Worksop College in Nottinghamshire it was clear from a young age that Buckner was highly talented. This was underlined when he clocked 4:16.90 for 5th place at The English Schools Championships at 1500m as a 15 year old. Three years later he won the National Junior 1500m title in 3:50.94, after an administrative blunder prevented him from competing in the English Schools' Championships of the same year.
After leaving Worksop College, Buckner attended Loughborough University where he read geography. He later completed an MBA degree. During his first year at university Buckner won the University Athletic Union (UAU) 800m title in 1:51.30. This title would prove to be his only real success during his university years, apart from setting a UK under 23 2000m record of 5:01.90 in 1983. It was when Buckner left university that he was able to concentrate fully on his running and by 1986 his 1500 m personal best had been reduced to 3:35.38. Although by today’s standards this time would rank him very highly, in the 1980s standards were far higher, so much so that he was ranked 2 seconds outside the top three performers of Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram and Steve Ovett respectively.

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Jan Merrill
Janice ("Jan") Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956 in New London, Connecticut) is a retired female middle distance runner from the United States. She was the dominant long distance runner of the middle 1970's, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins. At various points in time she held the American record in the women's 1500 metres (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres. She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men.
She won the U.S. title at 1500 metres twice outdoors, 3000 metres 4 times, twice in the indoor mile, twice in the indoor 2 mile and twice in Cross Country.
Merrill is now married hyphenating her name with Morin, and is an assistant coach at Rutgers University.

wn.com/Jan_Merrill

Jean Bouin
Jean Bouin (December 20, 1888 – September 29, 1914) was a French athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
In the 1500 metres, Bouin placed second of three in his initial semifinal heat and did not advance to the final. His time was 4:17.0.
His struggle against Finland's Hannes Kolehmainen in the 5,000-metre final of the 1912 Olympics has long been regarded as one of the most memorable moments of international track races. Bouin lost that race to Kolehmainen by just 0.1 seconds; their times were 14 minutes 36.7 seconds and 14:36.6, respectively (see, for example, Matti Hannus, The Flying Finns, chapter 1, "Hannes Kolehmainen", originally published as "Lentävät suomalaiset" in Helsinki, Finland, in 1988; Wolfgang Wünsche, The Heroes of Race Tracks/Kilpakenttien sankarit, chapter entitled "The Long-Distance Races"/Pitkät matkat, translated into Finnish and published in Helsinki, Finland, in 1984).
Bouin was killed in action during World War I near Xivray, Meuse, 10 miles east of Saint-Mihiel.

wn.com/Jean_Bouin

Jiang Bo
Jiang Bo (born March 13, 1977) is a female Chinese middle distance runner. On 1997-10-18 in Shanghai she ran the 1500 metres in 3:50.98 minutes. This ranks her second in the world of all time, only behind world record holder Qu Yunxia.

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John Kibowen
John Kipkemboi Kibowen (born April 21, 1969 in Changach, southern Keiyo District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and cross-country running.
He won the gold medal in the short race at the 1998 and 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and finished second in 2003. He also won a bronze at the 2001 World Championships and a silver at the 2003 World Athletics Final, finished fourth at the 2003 World Championships and sixth at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2005 World Championships
He won the Parelloop 10K in race in the Netherlands three times a row 2003-2005.
He is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in Kaptagat.

wn.com/John_Kibowen

John Ngugi
John Ngugi Kamau (born May 10, 1962), is a former Kenyan athlete, often called one of the greatest cross country runners of all time and winner of the 5000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Born in Kigumo, Muranga District, John Ngugi's earliest international successes came at the World Cross Country Championships, where he won a record four consecutive titles between 1986 and 1989 and five titles overall.
Ngugi established himself as a track runner when he won his heat of the 5000 m at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. In the final, Ngugi took the lead during the second kilometre, but despite his front running tactics, he was outsprinted in the finish, finishing in a disappointing twelfth place. He won 5000 metres race in the 1987 All-Africa Games held in Kenya.
At the Seoul Olympic Games, Ngugi took the lead after the kilometre and achieved a 50 m lead. Although his lead was reduced when the expected sprints came in the last lap, Ngugi still managed to win by 30 metres.
At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, Ngugi tried exactly the same tactics which had won him the Olympic gold medal. Although he tripped and fell after only two laps and lost 35 m on the rest of the field, he managed to catch the leading group and establish a gap of 40 m at the bell. But in this time, that wasn't enough, as Andrew Lloyd from Australia won by a mere 0.08 seconds in an incredible finishing burst.

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Joseph Ebuya
Joseph Ebuya (born 20 June 1987 in Baragoi) is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and was the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships champion.
Ebuya is a rare example of a runner representing the Turkana people. He was born in Baragoi, but moved with his family from place to place, including Rumuruti and Nyahururu. He is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in Kaptagat.
He began running competitively in 2003 after having seen Benjamin Limo (among others), doing training runs. Ebuya looked to follow and emulate Limo. Ebuya began to reach the elite level in 2005, representing the Rift Valley Province at the Kenyan Championships before heading to the European track and field circuit. Quick performances over 5000 metres in the Netherlands led to an appearance at the Memorial van Damme Golden League meeting later that season.
His first opportunity to compete internationally for Kenya came at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and he just finished outside of the medals in the 5000 metres, beaten into fourth place by Fabiano Joseph Naasi. The following month he ran in the junior race at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Again he was fourth, this time beaten by Tariku Bekele), although he shared in the team victory with Mangata Ndiwa and Leonard Komon. Success awaited him on the track at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, as he took the bronze medal over 5000 m. He was called upon to compete in the 10,000 metres as Kenya's representative Thomas Longosiwa was found to be overage. The situation worked in Ebuya's favour as he ran a personal best of 28:53.46 which brought him the silver medal behind Ethiopian teenager Ibrahim Jeilan. Eighth place at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final rounded off his first season of international competition.

wn.com/Joseph_Ebuya

Joseph Guillemot
Joseph Guillemot (October 1, 1899 – March 9, 1975) was a French athlete, winner of 5000 m at the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Born in Le Dorat, France, Joseph Guillemot's lungs were severely damaged by mustard gas, when he fought in World War I. Also his heart was located on the right hand side of his chest. Despite of this, Guillemot, an athlete of small size (160 cm, 54 kilos), but with extraordinary vital capacity, won his regiment's cross county championships.
In the next year Guillemot won a French Military Championships, followed by his first national championship title in 5000 m in 1920. That qualified him to the Olympic Games. In Antwerp, the main favourite was Paavo Nurmi. In the 5000 m final, Nurmi has devised a bold strategy in order to exhaust the dangerous Swedes Eric Backman and Runar Falk in the first part of the course. After three laps Nurmi takes the lead and builds more speed and only Guillemot follows him. In a half distance Guillemot still refuses to yield and Nurmi begins to lose heart. On the final curve Guillemot moved to pass Nurmi on the outside and, unaccustomed to final stretch sprinting, Nurmi gives up completely and jogs to the finish line four seconds after the winner has broken the tape.

wn.com/Joseph_Guillemot

Kaarlo Maaninka
Kaarlo Hannes Maaninka (born December 25, 1953 in Posio) is a former Finnish long distance runner who won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres and a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

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Kathrin Weßel
Kathrin Weßel, née Ullrich (born 14 August 1967 in Annaberg-Buchholz, Saxony) is a retired German long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres. She competed for SV Dynamo.

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Kazimierz Zimny
Kazimierz Franciszek Zimny (born 4 June 1935 in Tczew) was a Polish athlete, who mainly competed in the 5.000 metres.
He competed for Poland in the 5.000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where he won the bronze medal.

wn.com/Kazimierz_Zimny

Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (Amharic:ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born June 13, 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events. He is the reigning Olympic champion in both events and also won the 2004 Olympic title over 10,000 m.
He is the most accomplished runner in IAAF World Cross Country Championships history, with six long (12 km) course and five short (4 km) course titles. He won the 10,000 m title at the World Championships in Athletics four times running from 2003 to 2009 (matching Haile Gebrselassie's win streak). Bekele was unbeaten over 10,000 m from his debut in 2003 until 2011, when he failed to finish at the World Championships final.
At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he became the first man to win both 5000 m and 10,000 m title at the same championships. Over 5000 m he has also won an Olympic silver (2004), World Championship bronze (2003), two African Championship titles and one All-Africa Games gold medal. He also won the 3000 metres title at the World Indoor Championships in 2006.

wn.com/Kenenisa_Bekele

Khalid Boulami
Khalid Boulami (born 7 August 1969) is a former long-distance runner from Morocco. Most notably he won a bronze medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
He is the older brother of Brahim Boulami.

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Kipchoge Keino
Kipchoge ("Kip") Keino (born 17 January 1940), chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC), is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Kip Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today.
Keino was born in Kipsamo, Nandi District, Kenya. Both of his parents died while he was young. He was then brought up by his aunt. After finishing school, he joined Kenya Police. Before taking athletics, he played rugby
He began his international career at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia where he came eleventh in the three miles. At the 1964 Summer Olympics he finished fifth in 5000 m and barely missed the 1500 m final.
On 27 August 1965, Keino lowered the 3000 m world record by over 6 seconds to 7:39.6 at his first attempt at the distance. He won two gold medals (1500 & 5000 metres) at the inaugural All-Africa Games. Later in that year he broke the 5000 m world record held by Ron Clarke clocking 13:24.2. At the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica he won both the mile run and three mile run. In the next Commonwealth Games, Keino won the 1500 metres and was third in the 5000 metres.

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Lasse Virén
Lasse Artturi Virén (born July 22, 1949) is a former Finnish long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. Born in Myrskylä, Finland, Virén recaptured the image of the "Flying Finns" promoted by runners like Hannes Kolehmainen, Paavo Nurmi, and Ville Ritola in the 1920s.
Viren began his running career in the United States at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. Viren ran on the Varsity Cross-Country team for BYU for one season, before returning home to his native Finland. A police officer from Myrskylä, Virén debuted on the international scene in 1971. His performances at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki were overshadowed by fellow Finn Juha Väätäinen, who captured gold medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter events with Virén settling for modest 7th and 17th placings, respectively. According to Viren himself and his coach, Rolf Haikkola, Viren could have placed better in the 1971 European Athletics Championships, if he had done the "emptying exercise" of his system earlier - according to Haikkola, he followed the Finnish Athletics Federation's leaders' bad advice - and if he hadn't been pushed almost to the point of falling at the start of the last lap in the 5,000-metre final. The "emptying exercise" of top runners means that they push their bodies to a total exhaustion or lack of energy so that their bodies can again receive much energy, and so that they can repeat their top race performances. Shortly after those European Championships, he broke Väätäinen's fresh Finnish record at 5,000 metres.

wn.com/Lasse_Virén

Lauri Lehtinen
Lauri Aleksanteri Lehtinen (10 August 1908 – 4 December 1973) was a Finnish athlete, winner of a controversial 5000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Born in Porvoo, Finland, Lauri Lehtinen ran a new world record in 5000 m (14:17.0) just a month prior to the Olympics, thus becoming a main favourite to the Olympic 5000 m Champion title.
In the final, the Finns Lehtinen and Lauri Virtanen led early. They managed to shake off all other competitors except Ralph Hill from the United States. Soon the race turned into a battle between Lehtinen and Hill. On the last lap, Hill tried to overtake Lehtinen. Seeing this, the Finn blocked his way, zig-zagging from one lane to the other to the great exasperation of the crowd. At the finish, Lehtinen crossed first a mere 50 centimetres ahead. Although this was a common tactic in Europe, the American audience was unaccustomed to it, so they booed. Hill declined to file a protest. They both recorded an identical time of 14:30.0. This was the only Olympic race longer than 200 metres in which the top two finishers recorded identical times.

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Lauri Virtanen
Lauri (Lasse) Johannes Virtanen (July 3, 1904 in Uskela, Salo - February 8, 1982) was a Finnish long distance athlete, winner of bronze medals in the 5000 m and 10000 m at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

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Liliya Shobukhova
Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova (Russian: Лилия Булатoвнa Шoбухова, née Russian: Шагбaлова, Shabalova; born 13 November 1977) is a Russian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events.
She started her career in middle-distance running in 2001 and reached the final at both the European Indoor Championships and European Athletics Championships in 2002. She moved onto longer distances and, two years later, she represented Russia at the 2004 Athens Olympics and reached the 5000 m final. She ran at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, but her first major successes came the following year when she won silver medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2006 European Athletics Championships.
Shobukhova began to compete in road races, winning the 2007 Prague Half Marathon, but she still reached the 5000 m final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After running in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships, she focused on road races full time. The move paid dividends for her as she won at the Chicago Marathon three times straight from 2009 to 2011, as well as the 2010 London Marathon. Her personal best time of 2:18:20 hours is the Russian record for the event and makes her the second fastest woman ever after Paula Radcliffe.

wn.com/Liliya_Shobukhova

Liu Shixiang
Liu Shixiang (born 13 January 1971) is a retired Chinese long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres.
Her personal best time was 14:32.33 minutes, achieved in October 1997 in Shanghai. She also had 8:55.89 minutes in the 3000 metres and 30:55.83 minutes in the 10,000 metres.

wn.com/Liu_Shixiang

Liz McColgan
Elizabeth ("Liz") McColgan (née Lynch) MBE (born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal over the same distance at the 1988 Olympic Games. She was also a two-time gold medalist over the distance at the Commonwealth Games, as well as winning the New York City Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and London Marathon.
Elizabeth "Liz" McColgan (born Elizabeth Lynch, May 24, 1964) grew up in the Whitfield area of Dundee and was a pupil of St Saviour's RC High School. She joined her local athletics club, the Hawkhill Harriers, at age 12 at the advice of her PE teacher. Coached by Harry Bennett, she soon discovered a talent for distance running and won her first UK titles at the age of 18. Following Bennett's death, McColgan self-coached herself in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986.
At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, McColgan took the gold medal in the 10,000 metres, finishing nearly 12 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor and giving the host country its only gold medal in Athletics. This was followed by a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

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Lucy Wangui
Lucy Wangui Kabuu (born 24 March 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres events. She has represented Kenya twice at the Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.
She was based in Japan for her early career. Internationally, she was a team silver medallist at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2005 and was a double long-distance medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games (where she was the 10,000 m champion and 5000 m bronze medallist). Since 2011 she has competed on the road and has won at the Great North Run and the Delhi Half Marathon. She made her marathon debut in 2012 and became the eighth fastest woman ever with a time of 2:19:34 hours for second place at the Dubai Marathon.
She was born in 1984 in Ichamara in the Mukurweini/Nyeri region of central Kenya. Her potential for long-distance running was identified when she was at primary school. John Kanyi, a local runner who was based in Japan, encouraged her to try for an athletic scholarship to enable her to study and train there as well. She performed well in the scholarship selection races and, aged sixteen, won a place at Aomori Yamada High School.

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Markus Ryffel
Markus Ryffel (born 5 February 1955 in Bern) is a Swiss long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic 5000 metres final in Los Angeles. He set the Swiss record at 13:07.54 min (see, for example, "The Great Olympic Book 4" / Suuri Olympiateos 4, published in Finland in 1984). He also won a silver medal at the 1978 European Championships in Athletics, sharing it with the Soviet Union's Alexander Fedotkin; they both lost just one-tenth of a second to Italy's Venanzio Ortis (see, for example, "European Athletics Championships 1978" / Yleisurheilun EM-kisat 1978, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1978). Between these two major championships medals, Ryffel had a rather varying success as a 5,000-metre runner. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he placed fifth in that distance, losing to the winner, Ethiopia's Miruts Yifter, by 2.1 seconds (see, for example, "The Moscow Olympic Book" / Moskovan Olympiakirja, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1980). He ran significantly worse in the 1982 European Athletics Championships in Athens and in the 1983 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, placing only tenth and twelfth, respectively (see, for example, "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990; "The World Athletics Championships 1983" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1983, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1983). Ryffel's final few years as a competitive runner, after the Los Angeles Olympics, were also rather undistinguished. He placed third in a time of slightly over 14 minutes at 5,000 metres in the European Athletics Cup's B final in Budapest in 1985 (see various European countries' athletics statistics books for 1985 or their sports yearbooks for 1985). In the 1986 European Athletics Championships, he dropped out of the 5,000-metre final (see, for example, "The Great European Championships Book"). In his last major international championships, the 1987 World Athletics Championships, he placed well outside the top ten runners at 10,000 metres and was eliminated in the 5,000-metre qualifying heats (see, for example, "The World Athletics Championships 1987" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1987).

wn.com/Markus_Ryffel

Martti Vainio
Martti Sakari Vainio (born 30 December 1950 in Vehkalahti) is a former Finnish long distance runner. In Finland he is recognized as the last of the great runners of famous "V-line", the previous ones being Juha Väätäinen, Lasse Virén, and Pekka Vasala. Each of them won at least one gold medal either at Summer Olympics or European Athletics Championships in the 1970s.
His achievements in major athletic championships include gold in the 10,000 metres race 1978 European Championships in Athletics in Prague and bronze in the same distance at the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens. At the 1983 World Championships in Athletics he dropped to fourth by a very short margin in the 10,000 metres race, and incensed by that caught the bronze in the 5000 metres, which was also a closely contested fixture, Vainio only assuring his medal by a palpable lunge over the finish line.
Martti Vainio started systematic training at the age of 20 in the autumn 1971 with his coach Aulis Potinkara. He received his first national championships medal in 1974 when finishing third in 5000 metres after Seppo Tuominen and Rune Holmén. In the same year he ran his first 10,000 m race with result 29:09.6. He broke the 29-minutes barrier for the first time in 1976. In the same year he was second at the Finnish Championships in Athletics in 10,000 metres after Pekka Päivärinta and became selected to his first Olympics in Montreal. However, he did not qualify for 10,000 metres final, finishing as the second fastest runner to be eliminated from the final. He won his first Finnish Championship in 1977 when beating Kaarlo Maaninka by 0.9 seconds in 10,000 metres.

wn.com/Martti_Vainio

Mary Decker
Mary Slaney (born Mary Teresa Decker August 4, 1958, Bunnvale, Hunterdon County, New Jersey) is an American former track athlete. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and set 17 official and unofficial world records and 36 US national records.
Mary Decker was born in Bunnvale, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. A decade later her family moved to Southern California, where Decker started running. A year later, aged 11, she won her first local competition.
She joined her school athletics club and a local track club, and completely immersed herself in running, for which she would pay an injury-laden price later in her career. Aged 12, in one week she completed a marathon and four middle- and long-distance races, ending the week with an appendectomy operation.
In her early teens, Decker was already recognized as a world-class runner. Unable to attend the 1972 Olympics as she was too young, the pigtailed 89 pounds (40 kg) 14 year old nicknamed "Little Mary Decker," won international acclaim in 1973 with a win in the 800 meters at a US-Soviet meet in Minsk, beating the later Olympic silver medallist.

wn.com/Mary_Decker

Meselech Melkamu
Meselech Melkamu (Amharic: መሰለች መልካሙ; born 19 April 1985 in Debre Marqos) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and cross-country events. She defeated Meseret Defar to win the 5000 m gold medal at the 2008 African Athletics Championships but she is better known for her 29:53.80 run over 10,000 m which ranks her second on the all time list, behind only world record holder Wang Junxia. She is the fourth woman (of five) in history to break the 30 minute barrier and one of three Ethiopian's to accomplish the feat.
She made her breakthrough in the junior ranks in 2004 by winning at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and then taking the 5000 m title at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She just missed the senior medals in 2005, taking fourth in the short race at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships and also fourth in the 5000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. Her first major medals as a senior athlete came the following year as Melkamu won bronze medals in both the long and short races at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships (also winning two team golds). She went on to win the Great Ireland Run the following month.

wn.com/Meselech_Melkamu

Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar (Amharic: መሰረት ደፋር; born 19 November, 1983 in Addis Ababa) is a female long-distance runner from Ethiopia who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5000 metres. She broke the world record in the event in 2006, broke it again in 2007 and held it until 2008, when fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba beat her time.
Defar has been successful in the 5000 m at the Olympic Games, taking gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She has experienced similar success in the World Championships, taking silver in 2005 Helsinki Championships and gold at the 2007 Osaka Championships.
Defar holds the indoor records for the 5000 metres, 3000 metres and two-mile run. She has dominated the 3000 m indoor event, winning the three consecutive gold medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Defar won the 5000 metres gold medal at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in 2003. She won gold in the women's 5000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a time of 14:45.65.

wn.com/Meseret_Defar

Million Wolde
Million Wolde (Amharic: ምልልዖን ዎልደ; born March 17, 1979) is an Ethiopian athlete, winner of the 5000 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
At the age of only seventeen, Million Wolde competed in the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, finishing sixth in the 3000 m steeplechase. At the next World Junior Championships, at Annecy, France in 1998, he won the 5000 m. He also finished eighth in the Junior World Cross-Country Championships at Cape Town in 1996, gained second place at Turin in 1997 and at Marrakech, in 1998, he won his final junior championships over 8 km. On the road, Wolde represented Ethiopia in the 1998 World Road Relay Championships at Manaus, Brazil. Ethiopia eventually finished second to Kenya, after Wolde had established a narrow lead in the initial 5 km leg.
But the real fame came, when Wolde won the bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the World Indoor Championships at Maebashi in 1999 and then finished eighth in the 5000 m at the World Championships in Seville later that year. At the World Cross-Country Championships, Wolde finished fourth in the senior men's short course (4 km) at Belfast in 1999 and fifteenth at the same distance in Vilamoura, Portugal in 2000.

wn.com/Million_Wolde

Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter (Amharic: ምሩፅ ይፍጠር) (b. on 15 May 1944)[1][2] is a former Ethiopian athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His name is also sometimes spelled as Muruse Yefter.
Born in Adigrat, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Miruts Yifter spent early parts of his youth working in different factories and as a carriage driver. His talent as a long-distance runner was noticed when he joined the Ethiopian Air Force.
Yifter was called to the Ethiopian national team for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, but he made his Olympic debut four years later in Munich Olympics where he won a bronze medal in 10,000 metres. However, he arrived too late for the 5000 metres final.
In the 1973 All-Africa Games he won one gold medal (10,000 m) and one silver (5000 m). At the 1st African Championships in 1979 he won two gold medals (5000 and 10,000 metres).
Yifter was unable to participate in the 1976 Summer Olympics, because his nation boycotted the event. Four years later in Moscow, Yifter made up for his disappointments. In the final of the 10,000 m he sprinted into the lead 300 m from the finish and won by ten metres. Five days later, in the 5000 m final, Yifter was boxed in during the last lap. But with 300 m to go, his Ethiopian teammate, Mohamed Kedir, stepped aside and Yifter again sprinted to victory. Due to his abrupt change in speed when executing his kick to the finish, Yifter is commonly referred to as "Yifter the Shifter."

wn.com/Miruts_Yifter

Mo Farah
Mohamed "Mo" Farah (Somali: Muxammad Faarax, Arabic: محمد فرح‎; born 23 March 1983 in Mogadishu, Somalia) is a Somalia-born British international track and field athlete, and current 5000 m world champion. On the track, he generally competes over 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, but also runs the 3000 metres and occasionally the 1500 metres. He has expressed a desire to move up to the marathon after the 2012 Olympics.
Farah holds the European track record for 10,000 metres, the British road record for 10,000 metres, the British indoor record in the 3000 metres, the British track record for 5000 metres, the British half-marathon record, and the European indoor record for 5000 metres. In July 2010, Farah won Britain's first-ever men's European gold medal at 10,000 m. He followed this with a gold in the 5000 m, becoming the 5th male athlete to complete the long-distance double at the championships and the first British man to do so. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, he won silver in the 10,000 m and gold in the 5000 m.

wn.com/Mo_Farah

Mohammed Gammoudi
Mohammed Tlili ben Abdallah (Arabic: محمد التليلي بن عبدالله‎), also known as Moham(m)ed Gammoudi, (born February 11, 1938) is a former Tunisian athlete, and winner of 5000 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Born in Sidi Ach, Tunisia, Mohammed Gammoudi was one of the pioneers of the African long distance running revolution that changed the face of the sport in the final decades of the 20th century.
Gammoudi first came to international attention at the 1963 Mediterranean Games in Naples, where he won the 5000 m and 10 000 m. Despite that achievement, Gammoudi was still virtually unknown when he arrived at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The favourite, world record holder Ron Clarke from Australia, ensured a fast tempo throughout the race. With one lap remaining, Clarke had dropped all his main rivals, except Gammoudi and Billy Mills from United States. Coming into the home straight, Mills, Clark and Gammoudi exchanged leads. With 50 m to go, Gammoudi had the lead, until Mills swept past Gammoudi to win the gold medal. Two days later, Gammoudi won his heat in the 5000 m, but for reasons never fully explained, he withdrew from the final.

wn.com/Mohammed_Gammoudi

Mohammed Mourhit
Mohammed Mourhit (Arabic: محمد مُرحيت‎) (born 10 October 1970 in Khouribga, Morocco) is a Belgian top cross country, middle and long distance runner who holds two European records, in the 3000 m and 5000 m. He is also a former European 10000 m record holder. He won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in the 5000 metres and a silver medal at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 3000 metres behind Hicham El Guerrouj. Mourhit was also a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in the long course in 2000 and 2001. He also won the Lisbon Half Marathon 1997.
He earned the Belgian citizenship in 1997 by marriage. He competed in Lotto Cross Cup cross country meetings and won the domestic series in 1996–97 and 1997–98.
He was suspended for drug use between June 2002 and June 2004. He never came close to his personal bests again after returning to competition in 2004.

wn.com/Mohammed_Mourhit

Moses Kiptanui
Moses Kiptanui (born October 1, 1970 in Marakwet District, Kenya) is a middle and long distance athlete mostly famous for 3,000 m steeplechase in which he was the number one ranked athlete from 1991 to 1995 and three time IAAF World Champion. Kiptanui was also the first man ever to run 3000 m steeplechase in under eight minutes.
Kiptanui emerged in 1991 as a relatively unknown athlete. He won several IAAF Grand Prix races that season. He celebrated an especially spectacular victory in Zurich where he fell on the track on the last lap but still won easily. He was known as a highly confident and somewhat cocky athlete, who was self-coached and driven by his own self belief.
His victory at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo therefore came as no surprise. To the great disappointment of many observers he was not included in the Kenyan team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Kiptanui had failed to qualify at the Kenyan trials in Nairobi.
However, shortly after the Olympics he set a new world record over 3000 m in Cologne with a time of 7:28.96 min. Only three days later he also broke the 3000 m steeplechase world record in 8:02.08 in Zurich. The following year, he defended the World Championship title easily in Stuttgart. He won the steeplechase race at the 1994 IAAF World Cup.

wn.com/Moses_Kiptanui

Moses Ndiema Kipsiro
Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (born 2 September 1986 in Singare) is a Ugandan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. He represented Uganda at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, coming fourth over 5000 m.
Kipsiro has won medals in the 5000 m at the African Championships in Athletics and the All-Africa Games. He completed a 5000/10,000 metres double at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He is a four-time Ugandan cross country champion having won every race from 2008 to 2011. He is the Ugandan record holder for the 3000 metres and 5000 metres on the track, as well as for the 10K road distance.
He made his first senior international appearance at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, running in the heats of the 5000 metres. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he came seventh in the 5000 m. Kipsiro placed in the top thirty of both the long and short races at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. However, it was on the track that he made his first impact, taking the 5000 m silver medal and the 10,000 metres gold medal at the 2006 African Championships in Athletics.

wn.com/Moses_Ndiema_Kipsiro

Moses Ndiema Masai
Moses Ndiema Masai (born 1 June 1986 in Kapsogom, Mount Elgon District) is a Kenyan runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres.
Masai is from Bugaa village, four kilometres to Kapsokwony town. Born to John Barasa Masai and Leonida Cherop, he is the first born out of ten children. He started running while at Kapsogom Primary School. Later he joined Bishop Okiring Secondary School. At the 2005 Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year awards he won the most promising sportsman category. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final in the 5000 m.
He ran in the 2008 Summer Olympics and managed to finish in fourth position in the 10,000 metres final, narrowly missing out on a medal.
His younger sister, Linet Masai, won women's 10000 metres gold at the 2009 World Championships, himself winning bronze over the same distance. Other siblings Dennis, Ndiema and Magdaline are also runners. Their father John Barasa Masai is also a former runner, while Ben Jipcho is their distant uncle. He trains with PACE Sports Management.

wn.com/Moses_Ndiema_Masai

Murray Halberg
Sir Murray Gordon Halberg, ONZ, MBE (born 7 July 1933) is a former New Zealand middle distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games. He has worked for the welfare of children with disabilities since he founded the Halberg Trust in 1963.
Born in Eketahuna, Halberg was a rugby player in his youth, but suffered a severe injury during a game, leaving his left arm crippled. The next year, he took up running, seemingly being only more motivated by his handicap. In 1951, he met Arthur Lydiard, who became his coach. Lydiard had been a famous long-distance runner, and had new ideas on the training of athletes. Three years later, Halberg broke through, winning his first national title on the senior level.
At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games he placed fifth in the mile. At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he placed eleventh in the 1500 metres. Halberg became the first sub four-minute miler from New Zealand, and won the gold medal in the three miles at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He became New Zealand Sportsman of the Year for 1958.

wn.com/Murray_Halberg

Naftali Temu
Naftali Temu (20 April 1945 – 10 March 2003) was a Kenyan athlete, who won the 10.000 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Born in Nyamira District, Naftali Temu started running at the age of 14. After completing schooling, he joined the Kenyan Army.
Temu competed at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where he finished 49th in marathon
He won 5000 metres silver medal at the inaugural All-Africa Games in 1965, the race was won by Kipchoge Keino. He burst onto the international long distance running scene at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, where he won gold medal and beat the world record holder Ron Clarke in the six miles. Two days later, Temu finished fourth in the three miles.
At the Mexico Olympics, in the 10 000 m final, only Mamo Wolde from Ethiopia managed to keep Temu's pace. Wolde went to lead at the bell, but Temu passed him with only 50 m remaining to win the gold. Four days later, he contested the 5000 m final, where he won the bronze medal, only narrowly beaten by Mohammed Gammoudi from Tunisia and fellow countryman Kip Keino. Later, he also contested the Olympic marathon, where he had again a great battle with Wolde, but the latter broke free just after the 30 km mark, and exhausted Temu managed to finish only in nineteenth place.

wn.com/Naftali_Temu

Nina Holmén
Siv Nina Anette Holmén (née Wärn; born September 29, 1951 in Esse) is a former Finnish long distance runner. She currently lives in Jomala. Her husband is also former elite athlete Rune Holmén and their son is Janne Holmén.
Nina Holmén won the first European Championship in women's 3000 meters running in 1974. She competed also in Olympics 1976 finishing 9th in 1500 meters running, unfortunately her best event 3000 meters was not in the Olympic schedule that time.
Nina Holmén also competed successfully in cross-country running. She won silver medal in World Cross Country Championships in 1974. In 1973 she was 10th. In addition she won two medals in team race.

wn.com/Nina_Holmén

Olga Yegorova
Olga Yegorova (born March 28, 1972 in Novocheboksarsk) is a Russian middle distance runner.
Her first international appearance came at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where she finished 9th in the 1500m won by future world record holder Qu Yunxia. At the 2000 Summer Olympics she competed in 5000 metres, and she is a double world champion in this event, but like countryfellow Tatyana Tomashova she has concentrated on shorter races since, now competing mainly in the 1500 metres. In this event she finished 11th at the 2004 Summer Olympics and second at the 2005 World Championships.
In 2001 she shared the $1 million jackpot of the IAAF Golden League and in the same year tested positive for EPO which drew protests from her fellow competitors after she was allowed to compete in the World Athletics Championships. Although her urine sample tested positive for EPO, the French authorities failed to take an accompanying blood test and she avoided a suspension on a technicality.

wn.com/Olga_Yegorova

Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi (

pronunciation (help·info)) (13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish runner. Born in Turku, he was known as one of the "Flying Finns," a term given to him, Hannes Kolehmainen, Ville Ritola, and others for their distinction in running. During the 1920s, Nurmi was the best middle and long distance runner in the world, setting world records at distances between 1500 m and 20 km.
Nurmi won a total of nine gold and three silver medals in the 12 events in which he competed at the Olympic Games from 1920 to 1928. In particular, he won five gold medals at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, which is still the most athletics gold medals at one Olympics in the history of the Games. In 1932, Nurmi was unable to compete at the Olympics, as he had received money for his running and was thus considered a professional.
Nurmi debuted at the 1920 Summer Olympics by competing in four events. He won three gold medals: the 10,000 m, the cross country event, and the cross country team event; and he finished second in the 5000 m.

wn.com/Paavo_Nurmi

Paul Bitok
Paul Bitok (born June 26, 1970 in Kilibwoni, Nandi) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who won two silver medals at consecutive Summer Olympics (1992, 1996) over 5000 metres. Bitok emerged in 1992 as a relatively unknown athlete. He qualified for the Barcelona Games at the Kenyan trials and defeated several world class athletes at the Bislett Games in Oslo. By the time of the Olympics he had established himself as one of the favourites. He narrowly lost the final to Dieter Baumann of Germany. A few weeks later he won the 5000 m race in Zurich. In the following years Bitok did not match his performances of 1992. However, by 1996 he was back and won another silver in Atlanta. He also won two World Indoor silvers (1997, 1999) over 3000 metres behind Haile Gebrselassie.
He is married to Pauline Konga, who won the silver medal in women's 5000 metres at the 1996 Olympics, becoming the first Kenyan female Olympic medalist.

wn.com/Paul_Bitok

Paul Tergat
Paul Kibii Tergat (born June 17, 1969) is a Kenyan professional long distance runner. He held the world record in the marathon from 2003 to 2007, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time.
Now concentrating exclusively on the marathon, Tergat won many titles and set several world records on the track, in cross country, and on the road. Nicknamed the "Gentleman," Tergat is extremely hard-working and self-motivated. He lives and trains in Ngong, near Nairobi.
Paul Tergat was born on June 17, 1969 in Riwo, Baringo District, in Kenya's Rift Valley Province. He attended Riwo Primary school and later joined Kapkawa Boys High School. Unlike many athletes, Tergat realized his talent after graduating high school.
Tergat won five straight IAAF World Cross Country Championships titles, 1995 to 1999, which was a record. Says Tergat, "Cross country is what I always liked most. It was my world, my passion. Before the IAAF introduced the short course in 1998, all the world class athletes from 1500 m to the marathon were in the same race."

wn.com/Paul_Tergat

Paula Fudge
Paula Fudge (née Yeoman; born March 30, 1952) is a retired female long-distance runner from England, who competed in the late 1970s and the 1980s in the women's marathon and half marathon. Fudge set her personal best (2:29:47) in the classic distance on October 30, 1988, finishing in third place at the Chicago Marathon. In 1981 she set a world record for the 5000 metres with 15.14.51. Her twin sister Ann Ford was also a successful international distance runner. Ford's results include finishing 4th at the 1976 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

wn.com/Paula_Fudge

Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE (born 17 December 1973) is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon, two-time New York Marathon champion, and won the 2002 Chicago Marathon.
Radcliffe is a former world champion in the marathon, half marathon and cross country. She has also been European champion over 10,000 metres and in cross country. On the track, Radcliffe won the 10,000 metres silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and was the 2002 Commonwealth champion at 5000 metres. She has represented Great Britain at the Olympics four times consecutively (1996 to 2008), but has not won a medal on the Olympic stage.
Radcliffe is an asthma sufferer who is against the use of drugs in sport. She is married to her coach, Gary Lough, and has two children.
Her running has earned her a number of accolades including the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Laureus World Comeback of the Year, IAAF World Athlete of the Year, AIMS World Athlete of the Year (three times) and a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). She has also been nominated for World Sportswoman of the year on several occasions. In 2010, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.

wn.com/Paula_Radcliffe

Pauline Konga
Pauline Konga (born 10 April 1970 in Baringo District) is a Kenyan athlete.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics she won the silver medal in the 5000 m, behind Wang Junxia of China and in front of Roberta Brunet of Italy. The result made Konga first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic medal.
She is married to Paul Bitok, who won men's 5000 metres at the 1996 Olympics.

wn.com/Pauline_Konga

Pyotr Bolotnikov
Pyotr Grigoryevich Bolotnikov (Russian: Пётр Григо́рьевич Боло́тников; born March 8, 1930) is a former Soviet athlete, one of the world's best stayers of the early 1960s, winner of 10,000 m at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Born in Zinovkino, Krasnoslobodsky District, Mordovian ASSR (now the Republic of Mordovia), Bolotnikov started athletics only at age twenty, when he joined the Soviet Army. He trained at VSS Spartak, coached by Grigory Nikiforov.
Bolotnikov won his first national championship title in 10,000 m in 1957, when he surprisingly beat the great Vladimir Kuts in a finishing straight by 0.2 seconds. He became the double Soviet champion in 5,000 m and 10,000 m from 1958 to 1962. He also won the national 10,000 m title in 1964 and national cross country title in 1958. In 1959 he became the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR
Bolotnikov participated already at the 1956 Summer Olympics, but without any success. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, Bolotnikov controlled the 10,000 m race from the start to end, beating the main favourites Hans Grodotzki from East Germany and Murray Halberg from New Zealand by five seconds. On October 5 of that year, in Kiev, Bolotnikov lowered the 10,000 m world record by almost twelve seconds to 28:18.8.

wn.com/Pyotr_Bolotnikov

Ralph Hill
Ralph Anthony Hill (December 26, 1908, Klamath Falls, Oregon - October 17, 1994) was an American long distance runner.
Hill studied at the University of Oregon when competing in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on the 5000 m. In an exciting race on Aug 5 1932, he came in second behind Lauri Lehtinen, with each runner recording a time of 14.30,0. The judges deliberated for an hour before they could decide not to disqualify Lehtinen, as he had appeared to block Hill twice. Hill refused to file a protest, stating that he believed Lehtinen's obstruction of him was accidental. Lauri Virtanen came in third 14 seconds behind.
After college Hill made a career of farming near Klamath Falls. The local Henley High School renamed its football field in September 1992 after its alumnus Hill.

wn.com/Ralph_Hill

Richard Limo
Richard Kipkemei Limo (born November 18, 1980) is a Kenyan athlete. He specializes in long distance track events. He won the 5000 metres gold medal at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.
He was born in 1980 in Cheptigit village, Uasin Gishu District. After primary school he went to polytechnic and received a grade in electrical wiring in 1996. He did not start running until 1997 when he joined a training camp located near his home. The next year he won silver medal at the junior race of World Cross Country Championships. The same year he broke the world junior record at 3000 metres, by running in 7:36.76 minutes, but missed the World Junior Championships. He won the Cross Zornotza in 1999 and the Trofeo Alasport cross country meeting in 2002. In 2001 he became world champion and was world's best performer of the year at 5000 metres with his time 12:56.72, which remains his personal record.
Since 2004 he has not been much in the limelight, but has since switched to marathon racing. He won the Giro Media Blenio 10K in 2004. He was the runner-up in the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon, his debut where he consequently set a new personal best (2:06:45).

wn.com/Richard_Limo

Roberta Brunet
Roberta Brunet (born May 20, 1965 in Aosta) is a former middle distance runner from Italy who first won a bronze medal in the European Championships in 3,000 metres in 1990 and then won a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in the same discipline at the 1997 World Championships and a bronze medal in the 3,000 metres at the 1990 European Championships. She is a two-time national champion in the women's 5.000 metres.

wn.com/Roberta_Brunet

Ron Clarke
Ronald William "Ron" Clarke, MBE (born 21 February 1937 in Victoria) is a former Australian athlete, writer, and Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He is one of the best known middle and long distance runners in the 1960s, notable for setting seventeen world records.
He attended Melbourne High School. His brother Jack Clarke and father Tom played Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League with Essendon.[1]
In 1956, when Clarke was still a promising 19-year-old, he was chosen to light the Olympic Flame in the stadium during the opening ceremonies of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
During the 1960s Clarke won 12 Victorian track championships ranging from 1500 m to 6 miles (9.7 km).
He won the bronze medal in the 10,000 m at the 1964 Summer Olympics, but never won an Olympic gold medal. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Clarke collapsed and nearly died from altitude sickness sustained during the grueling 10,000 m race final. He suffered permanent heart damage from this event, as despite training in the Alps to get acclimatised to high altitudes at Mexico City, this could not put him on par with opponents from African countries, who had always run at high altitude. Clarke finished in sixth place, but remembered nothing of the last lap. He sufficiently recovered to compete in the 5,000 meter heats a few days later.

wn.com/Ron_Clarke

Salah Hissou
Salah Hissou (Arabic: صلاح حيسو‎) (born January 16, 1972 in Ait Taghia, Kasba Tadla) is a long-distance runner from Morocco, who won the gold medal over 5000 m at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville. With 26:38.08 he also set a world record over 10,000 m in Brussels in 1996 and won a bronze medal over 10,000 m at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

wn.com/Salah_Hissou

Sally Kipyego
Sally Kipyego (born December 19, 1985 in Kapsowar, Marakwet District, Kenya) is a runner who competed as part of the Texas Tech Red Raiders cross country and track and field teams. She is the first Kenyan woman to win a NCAA cross country individual championship, the first woman to win three consecutive NCAA Division I Cross Country titles, and the first runner to win three consecutive Big 12 Conference cross country titles. She is tied with Suzy Favor-Hamilton for the most individual championships in NCAA history. Kipyego won more individual NCAA championships in 2 years than any other runner in NCAA history. Academically, Kipyego earned a nursing degree. She runs professionally on the International Association of Athletics Federations' ("IAAF") World Athletics Tour. She is sponsored by Nike, Inc.
Sally Kipyego's running career started in 2000 when she was 14. The following year, she represented Kenya as a junior at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing eighth. However, a stress fracture kept her off both the 2002 and 2003 teams before entering college in the United States.

wn.com/Sally_Kipyego

Salvatore Antibo
Salvatore Antibo (born February 7, 1962) is a former long distance runner from Italy.
Antibo was born on February 7, 1962 in Altofonte, within the province of Palermo (Sicily).
He revealed as a consistent middle distance runner in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when he arrived fourth in the 10,000 m final. His national popularity was however overshadowed by his compatriot Alberto Cova, who won the gold medal. After a bronze medal at the 1986 European Championships, behind Stefano Mei and again Cova, he gained the status of Italian number one winning the silver medal over 10,000 m at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
At the 1990 European Championships in Athletics in Split he was victorious over both 10,000 m and 5000 m, becoming one of the most popular sportsmen in his country. He was famous for his unorthodox tactics. In Split, he won the 10,000 m through front-running and the 5000 m with a sprint on the final straight.
In the 10,000 m final at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo, Antibo lost to Moses Tanui ahead of Richard Chelimo and Khalid Skah. However, his late in the race was so high that it raised suspicions about his health. It was eventually revealed that such sudden absences during the races were related to a form of epilepsy.^{[citation needed]}

wn.com/Salvatore_Antibo

Sammy Kipketer
Sammy Kipketer (born 29 September 1981 in Rokocho, Keiyo District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and cross-country running.
He graduated from Lelboinet Secondary School in 1998. The next year he qualified for the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he finished sixth at the junior race. He was recruited by Kenyan Army 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 kilometer races.
He holds the 5 Kilometres road running world record as recognised by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS), while IAAF does not keep world record over the distance. Kipketers time, 12:59.5 minutes, was set at the Carlsbad 5000 race in Carlsbad, California in March 2000.
He won the Parelloop 10K in race in the Netherlands in 2001, setting a new world record of 27.18 minutes. Haile Gebrselassie run the distance in 27:02 minutes in 2002 in Doha, 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 has since set a better time, still awaiting ratification by ARRS.

wn.com/Sammy_Kipketer

Saïd Aouita
Saïd Aouita (Arabic: سعيد_عويطة ; born November 2, 1959) is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.45 minutes), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.46), and twice at 5000 m (13:00.40 and 12:58.39). Aouita was one of the first globally-known Arab sportspeople.
Saïd Aouita was born on November 2, 1959 in Kenitra, a coastal Moroccan city. Nine years later, he moved along with his family to Fes due to the nature of his father's work. As a child he spent most of his time playing football and wanted to be a great footballer; however, his outstanding skills in running made his coaches foresee a great future in track and field.
Aouita had his first start towards stardom at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics held in Helsinki. He contested the 1500 m and finished third in the final, taking the bronze medal, after the pace slowed in the last 1000 meters and then finished with a sprint.

wn.com/Saïd_Aouita

Sentayehu Ejigu
Sentayehu Ejigu (born 21 June 1985 in Debre Markos, Amhara Region) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres. She represented Ethiopia at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
After narrowly missing out on medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2009 World Championships, she made her breakthrough in 2010, winning bronze medals at the African Championships in Athletics and World Indoors. She was the silver medallist at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.
She is the third fastest of all-time over 3000 m indoors with her best of 8:25.27 minutes. She also ranks among the top eight fastest women ever over 5000 m both outdoors and indoors.
As a child, her quick feet made her the natural messenger-girl for the family errands and she soon took up running at school. She began entering competitions and her immediate success led to a move to Addis Ababa to train with the Banks Running Club. Despite her talent, she often was runner-up to her club mate Meseret Defar – who went on to win Olympic gold in the 5000 metres.

wn.com/Sentayehu_Ejigu

Shem Kororia
Shem Kororia (born 25 September 1972) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres and half marathon. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Kororia was the third man ever to run the half marathon within an hour, when he won the world title on 1997-10-04 in Košice, Slovakia, clocking 59:56.
He won 5000 metres gold twice at the Military World Games: in 1995 and 1999. He also won the Parelloop 10K in race in the Netherlands in 1997.
He is from Kaptama in Mount Elgon District, the same village as Edith Masai.

wn.com/Shem_Kororia

Sileshi Sihine
Sileshi Sihine (Amharic: ስለሺ ስህነ; born January 29, 1983 in Sheno) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
Sihine achieved a silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as at the 2005 World Championships and 2007 World Championships as well as a bronze medal in 2003. He also picked up a silver medal in the 5000 m at the 2005 World Championships.
Sihine began running at school, inspired by the achievements of his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, and after success at junior level, he emerged as a leading senior athlete. He established himself as a competent cross country runner with consecutive wins at the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños in 2002 and 2003.
Sileshi Sihine was one of the three Ethiopians, along with Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie who swept the gold, silver, bronze medals in the 10,000 m of 2003 World Championships. He took the 10,000 m gold at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.
He won a silver medal in the 10,000 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, behind his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele.

wn.com/Sileshi_Sihine

Suleiman Nyambui
Suleiman Nyambui (born February 13, 1953) is a former athlete from Tanzania who won the silver medal in 5000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Nyambui had dropped out of school after primary education. He became a fisherman in Ukerewe District Mwanza Region where his potential as a good athlete was spotted by the Region's Athletic Organization. In short, the organization helped in his training and afforded him facilities and guidance in making him a national and international athlete. He also had joined the Tanzania National Service before he went to train as a teacher. He taught school at Bukumbi -twenty miles from Mwanza City - till he came to study in the United State for his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at UTEP. Then he took a contract to train Saudi Arabian athletes. After that he moved back to Tanzania. In between all these, he did the followings:
He also won a bronze medal at the 1978 All-Africa Games, and twice (1987 and 1988) triumphed at the Berlin Marathon.
Attended the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 1978 to 1982, where, as an older aged athlete (he was 29 when he graduated), he won four straight NCAA titles in the 10,000 meters — one of only five Division I men to ever accomplish such a feat. He also won 3 straight NCAA titles in the 5,000 meters while at UTEP and was the 1980 NCAA Cross Country champion. In a memorable Millrose Games race in New York in February 1981, Nyambui broke the world indoor 5,000 meter record with a 13:20.4, just ahead of Alberto Salazar who broke the American indoor 5,000 meter record.

wn.com/Suleiman_Nyambui

Taisto Mäki
Taisto Armas Mäki (2 December 1910 – 1 May 1979) was a Finnish long-distance runner - one of the so-called Flying Finns. Like his coach and close friend, Paavo Nurmi, Mäki broke world records over two miles, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres - holding the records simultaneously between 1939 and 1942. Mäki was the first man to run 10,000 metres in less than 30 minutes, breaking his own world record in a time of 29:52.6 on 17 September 1939.
Mäki was born in Rekola in the municipality of Vantaa. He was a shepherd by trade, earning him the nickname "Rekolan paimenpoika" (the "Rekola herdboy"). At a time when Finland dominated men's long-distance running, Mäki did not come to prominence until 1938. In September of that year, in what proved to be his only appearance at a major championships, he won the 5000 metres at the European Championships in Paris, beating Swede Henry Jonsson and fellow Finn Kauko Pekuri into second and third place with a time of 14:26.8. On 29 September 1938, less than four weeks after winning in Paris, Mäki broke the 10,000 m world record for the first time, beating Ilmari Salminen's old record by more than three seconds in a time of 30:02.0. Mäki went on to break five world records during the following summer. On 7 June he took close to three seconds off Miklós Szabó's two mile world record, running a time of 8:53.2 in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Nine days later, in the same stadium, he took over eight seconds off Lauri Lehtinen's world record over 5000 metres. He followed these performances by taking close to ten seconds off his own 10,000 m world record, running 29:52.6 on 17 September.

wn.com/Taisto_Mäki

Tariku Bekele
Tariku Bekele (Amharic: ታሪኩ በቀለ; born 28 February 1987 in Oromia Region) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres. He is the younger brother of Kenenisa Bekele. He is the fourth fastest Ethiopian ever over 5000 m and 3000 metres. His indoor 3000 m best of 7:31.09 ranks him as the fourth fastest of all-time in the event.
His first major victory came at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he won the 3000 m gold medal. He was the 2006 World Junior Champion over the distance and also won a cross country junior bronze medal that year. He took a continental silver medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games. Tariku has finished in the top eight of 5000 m finals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at the World Championships in Athletics in 2005 and 2007.
Following the footsteps of his older brother, he first had success at the younger levels of the sport. He won the 3000 m silver medal behind Augustine Choge at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics and stepped up a distance to take the bronze medal over 5000 m at the 2004 World Junior Championships a year later. He beat Paul Tergat in the 2004 Oeiras International Cross Country meeting.

wn.com/Tariku_Bekele

Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene (Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኔ; born October 1, 1985 in Bekoji, Arsi, Ethiopia) is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion. She has also won four world track titles and five world cross country titles. She is nicknamed the "Baby Faced Destroyer".
Born in the village of Bekoji, Dibaba was the 4th of 6 children. She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group, and was raised in the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She began doing athletics at the age of 14. She moved to the capital Addis Ababa in 2000.
Dibaba is part of an athletic family, with older sister Ejegayehu Dibaba also making her mark on the international stage and brother Dejene marked as a future star. Their sister Genzebe won the junior race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships. 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion Derartu Tulu is also their cousin. She continues the successful athletic history of the Oromo people in long distance running.

wn.com/Tirunesh_Dibaba

Tom Nyariki
Tom ("Thomas") Nyariki (born September 27, 1971 in Nyamira) is a long-distance runner from Kenya. Most notably he won a bronze medal on the 5,000 metres at the 1997 World Championships.
Nyariki is married to Jackline Maranga. Nyariki represents the Kisii people, which is not famous for producing many world-class athletes.
He trains with Kimbia Athletics and is coached by Dieter Hogen. Recently he has competed mostly in road running races in the USA.

wn.com/Tom_Nyariki

Ville Ritola
Vilho ("Ville") Eino Ritola (18 January 1896 – 24 April 1982) was a Finnish athlete, specialised in the long distance events. In the 1920s, he won 8 Olympic medals. He was internationally known as one of the "Flying Finns".
Born in Peräseinäjoki, Finland, Ville Ritola, nicknamed as Peräseinäjoen Susi (The Wolf from Peräseinäjoki), emigrated to United States at the age of 17, to join his seven siblings, who had emigrated earlier.
In the United States, Ritola joined the Finnish-American Athletic Club and trained together with Hannes Kolehmainen, who had moved to the United States after the 1912 Summer Olympics. Kolehmainen tried to convince young Ritola to join the Finnish 1920 Summer Olympics team, but Ritola said he wasn't ready yet.
But he was ready at the 1924 Paris Olympics, winning four gold medals and two silver medals. In his first race, the 10 000 m, in absence of Paavo Nurmi, he won by half a lap and obliterated his own world record by more than 12 seconds. Finnish officials had selected Ritola for the race as Nurmi was already running in five other distance events. Three days later, Ritola won the 3000 m steeplechase by 75 metres. The next day he finished second behind Nurmi in the 5000 m. Next he earned another silver medal behind Nurmi in the individual cross-country race and gained a gold medal as a member of the Finnish cross-country team. Finally, Ritola joined with Nurmi to win the 3000 m team race.

wn.com/Ville_Ritola

Vivian Cheruiyot
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born September 11, 1983 in Keiyo District) is an athlete from Kenya who specialises in long distance running. She represented Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cheruiyot won a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition.
After taking a silver at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she won a number of outdoor titles that year, becoming African champion, Commonwealth Games champion and IAAF Continental Cup champion, as well as winning the 2010 IAAF Diamond League title.
She holds the Kenyan record and Commonwealth record for the 5000 m with her best time of 14:20.89, which was set at the DN Galan in 2011.
Cheruiyot is trained by Ricky Simms. She was born near Keiyo in the Rift Valley Province, coming from the same village as another female runner Alice Timbilili.
Her breakthrough year came in 1999: at the age of fifteen she took the junior silver medal at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships behind Werknesh Kidane. At the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics she won the bronze medal in the 3000 metres. She earned a senior call-up for the 1999 All-Africa Games, where she managed a bronze medal in the 5000 metres. She became the junior champion at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She gained selection for the 2000 Olympic Games and reached the 5000 m final after setting personal bests in the qualifying rounds. She was much slower in the final and was the last runner to finish.

wn.com/Vivian_Cheruiyot

Vladimir Kuts
Vladimir Petrovich Kuts (Russian: Владимир Петрович Куц) (February 7, 1927 – August 16, 1975) was a Soviet long distance runner. He is alternatively known as Volodymyr Kuts, the Ukrainian spelling, as Kuts was born in Aleksino, which is in present-day Ukraine.
Kuts, who was an army officer during his sportive career, was first noticed internationally in 1954. At the European Championships in Bern, he defeated the favourites - Czech star Emil Zátopek and Britain's Christopher Chataway - in the 5000 m, en passant setting a new world record. Kuts lost the World Record months later to Chataway (who beat him narrowly), only to take it back again 10 days later.

wn.com/Vladimir_Kuts

Vénuste Niyongabo
Vénuste Niyongabo (born December 9, 1973) is a middle distance runner from Burundi. In 1996, he became the first (and so far, only) Olympic medalist from Burundi by winning the 5000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He had only competed twice before in that event prior to winning the gold medal.
A Tutsi born in Vugizo, in southern Burundi, Niyongabo won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1992 World Junior Championships and also came fourth over 800 metres. He competed in his first senior tournament the following year, but was eliminated in the 1500 m semi-finals of the World Championships in Stuttgart. Niyongabo soon became one of the top 1500 m runners in the world, winning several major races in 1994 and 1995. He also won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Gothenburg, finishing behind Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj.
For the 1996 Olympics, held in Atlanta, Niyongabo was assumed to be a potential winner of the 1500 m, but he decided to forfeit his place to a compatriot, Dieudonné Kwizera. Kwizera had been unable to compete in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics since Burundi did not have a National Olympic Committee at the time, and was only in Atlanta as a coach. Niyongabo moved up to compete in the 5000 m event instead. The move turned out to be a good one for both athletes; Kwizera finally became an Olympian, while Niyongabo sprinted away in the last lap of the 5000 m final to win an unexpected gold medal.

wn.com/Vénuste_Niyongabo

Wang Junxia
Wang Junxia (simplified Chinese: 王军霞; traditional Chinese: 王軍霞; pinyin: Wáng Jūnxiá; born January 19, 1973 in Jiaohe, Jilin City, Jilin) is a Chinese former long-distance runner.
Wang was coached by Ma Junren until 1995 and by Mao Dezhen from 1995 to her retirement after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Her best years lay between 1992 and 1996. In 1992, she beat Ethiopian Gete Wami to win the 1992 World Junior Championships in Athletics in 10,000 m (32:29.90) in Seoul, Korea. The golden but short glory came in 1993. In April, she set a world-leading time and former Asian best in marathon (2:24:07). In May, she broke the Asian record of 3000 m in a fast time of 8:27.68 in the Chinese National Championships. In August, Chinese women distance runners under coach Ma Junren stunned the world and swept the world titles from 1500 m to 10,000 m in Stuttgart, Germany. Wang claimed the world title in 10,000 m (30:49.30), although she was sick before the race. In less than a month, she went on to win the 3000 m and 10,000 m in Chinese National Games with 3 world records in 3 races. On September 8, she won the 10,000 m final in a world record of 29:31.78, which is faster than the former record by 42 seconds and also the first-ever sub-30 minute performance in this event. On September 11, she finished second in 1500 m behind her teammate, Qu Yunxia in another world record breaking race. Qu ran 3:50.46 (current world record) against Wang's 3:51.92, which still stands fourth in the all-time list. In 3000 m heats on September 12, Wang's teammates broke the 3000 m world record in the first heat. This world record was just briefly held, when it was erased by Wang in the second heat. The next day she claimed the 3000 m in another record time 8:06.11. She also won the World Cup Marathon Championships later in the year.

wn.com/Wang_Junxia

Werknesh Kidane
Werknesh Kidane (born November 21, 1981), is an Ethiopian long distance running athlete who competes in both 5000 and 10,000 metres. She has won numerous medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and represented Ethiopia at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004. She was the silver medallist at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and a gold medallist at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
She was born in the historic town of Maychew, Tigray, and her first international title came at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she topped the podium in the junior race. She made her Olympic debut as a teenager and came seventh in the 5000 m final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She won the 2002 Great Ethiopian Run and came second in the short race at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Werknesh began her 2003 season with a win at the Antrim International Cross Country and then went on to take the women's long race title at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She won the silver medal in the 10,000 m at the 2003 All-Africa Games, finishing behind fellow Ethiopian Ejegayehu Dibaba. Her season peaked at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics where she set a 10,000 m personal best of 30:07.15 minutes to secure the runner-up position behind Ethiopian veteran Berhane Adere who broke the African record for the event. The following year she came fourth in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also won the long race bronze medal at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, as well as taking fourth in the short race.

wn.com/Werknesh_Kidane

Werner Schildhauer
Werner Schildhauer (born June 5, 1959 in Dessau) is a retired German track and field athlete, who represented the former East Germany at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow in the 10,000 meter run and placed 7th behind his team mate Jörg Peter (see, for example, the Finnish-language book "The Great Olympic Book" / Suuri Olympiateos, volume 3, published in 1980).
At the European Championship in 1982 he won the silver medal in the 5,000 meter run and in the 10,000 meter run. At the World Athletics Championship in 1983 he won the silver medal in both the 5000 meter and 10,000 meter runs. On May 28, 1983 he set an East German record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 27:24.95, a time which had also stood as a German record and was broken almost 14 years later by Dieter Baumann (see also Schildhauer's German-language Wikipedia biography).
Schildhauer represented the Chemie Halle sport club; his long-time rival in East Germany was Hansjörg Kunze.

wn.com/Werner_Schildhauer

Yelena Romanova
Yelena Nikolaevna Romanova (Russian: Елена Николаевна Романова; March 20, 1963 – January 28, 2007) was a Russian middle distance runner. She won an Olympic gold medal in 1992.
Romanova was found dead at age 43 in her flat in Volgorad in January 2007. The cause of death has not yet been given.

wn.com/Yelena_Romanova

Yobes Ondieki
Yobes Ondieki (born February 21, 1961 in Kisii, Nyanza) is a former Kenyan 5000 m 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 1988 and 1992 but did not win a medal.
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. In 1993, Ondieki became the first athlete to break the 27-minute-barrier over 10,000 meters at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
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 has been used in a recent advertisement for Carlton Draught.

wn.com/Yobes_Ondieki

Zahra Ouaziz
Zahra Ouaziz (Arabic: زهرة واعزيز‎) (born December 20, 1969 in Oulmes) is a retired Moroccan long-distance runner. She was the African record holder at 3000 metres and 5000 metres.
Ouaziz broke the 5000 metres African Record in 1998, timing 14:40.19. The record was beaten in September 2000 by Leah Malot of Kenya, the new record was 14:39.83.
Ouaziz found much of her success on the track, but she also won two silver medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and she was the winner of the 1999 Cross Internacional de Itálica.
IAAF profile for Zahra Ouaziz

wn.com/Zahra_Ouaziz

Zola Budd
Zola Pieterse (born Zola Budd, 26 May 1966 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa), is a former Olympic track and field competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot. Her achievements on the track were often overshadowed by the political controversy she aroused during her short stay in the United Kingdom.
Budd achieved fame in 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the women's 5000 metres world record with a time of 15:01.83. Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletic Federation refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record.
In 1985 she claimed the world record officially while representing Great Britain, clocking 14:48.07.
The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international Sporting boycott of South Africa so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford. Her application and arrival was controversial due to the opposition of anti-apartheid campaigners.

wn.com/Zola_Budd

YEAR	TIME	ATHLETE	PLACE
1960	13:38.1	Pyotr Bolotnikov (URS)	Kiev
1961	13:38.2	Murray Halberg (NZL)	Stockholm
1962	13:38.4	Murray Halberg (NZL)	Auckland
1963	13:38.6	Pyotr Bolotnikov (URS)	Zürich
1964	13:38.0	Bob Schul (USA)	Compton
1965	13:24.2	Kipchoge Keino (KEN)	Auckland
1966	13:16.6	Ron Clarke (AUS)	Stockholm
1967	13:18.8	Ron Clarke (AUS)	Stockholm
1968	13:27.66	Ron Clarke (AUS)	London
1969	13:29.0	Dick Taylor (GBR)	London
1970	13:22.8	Ian Stewart (GBR)	Edinburgh
1971	13:22.2	Dave Bedford (GBR)	Edinburgh
1972	13:13.0	Emiel Puttemans (BEL)	Brussels
1973	13:14.51	Emiel Puttemans (BEL)	Stockholm
1974	13:14.4	Ben Jipcho (KEN)	Christchurch
1975	13:18.6	Emiel Puttemans (BEL)	Papendal
1976	13:13.10	Dick Quax (NZL)	Stockholm
1977	13:12.86	Dick Quax (NZL)	Stockholm
1978	13:08.4	Henry Rono (KEN)	Berkeley
1979	13:12.29	Suleiman Nyambui (TAN)	Stockholm
1980	13:16.38	Miruts Yifter (ETH)	Bratislava
1981	13:06.20	Henry Rono (KEN)	Knarvik
1982	13:00.41	David Moorcroft (GBR)	Oslo
1983	13:08.54	Fernando Mamede (POR)	Tokyo
1984	13:04.78	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	Florence
1985	13:00.40	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	Oslo
1986	13:00.86	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	La Coruña
1987	12:58.39	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	Rome
1988	13:11.70	John Ngugi (KEN)	Seoul
1989	13:04.24	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	Oslo
1990	13:05.59	Salvatore Antibo (ITA)	Bologna
1991	13:01.82	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	Zürich
1992	13:00.93	Moses Kiptanui (KEN)	Brussels
1993	13:02.75	Ismael Kirui (KEN)	Stuttgart
1994	12:56.96	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Hengelo
1995	12:44.39	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Zürich
1996	12:45.09	Daniel Komen (KEN)	Zürich
1997	12:39.74	Daniel Komen (KEN)	Brussels
1998	12:39.36	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Helsinki
1999	12:49.64	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Zürich
2000	12:49.28	Brahim Lahlafi (MAR)	Brussels
2001	12:56.72	Richard Limo (KEN)	Zürich
2002	12:55.85	Salah Hissou (MAR)	Rome
2003	12:48.81	Stephen Cherono (KEN)	Ostrava
2004	12:37.35	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Hengelo
2005	12:40.18	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Paris
2006	12:48.09	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Brussels
2007	12:49.53	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Zaragoza
2008	12:50.18	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Zürich
2009	12:52.32	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Zürich
2010	12:51.21	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)	Doha

YEAR	TIME	ATHLETE	PLACE
1976	16:04.2	Nina Holmén (FIN)	Pietarsaari
1977	15:37.0	Jan Merrill (USA)	Ingelheim
1978	15:35.52	Kathy Mills (USA)	Knoxville
1979	15:33.8	Jan Merrill (USA)	Durham
1980	15:30.6	Jan Merrill (USA)	Palo Alto
1981	15:14.51	Paula Fudge (GBR)	Knarvik
1982	15:08.26	Mary Slaney (USA)	Eugene
1983	15:01.65	Zola Budd (RSA)	Port Elizabeth
1984	14:58.89	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	Oslo
1985	14:48.07	Zola Budd (GBR)	London
1986	14:37.33	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	Stockholm
1987	15:01.08	Liz McColgan (GBR)	Oslo
1988	15:03.29	Liz McColgan (GBR)	Berlin
1989	14:59.01	Kathrin Weßel (GDR)	Stockholm
1990	15:02.23	Yelena Romanova (URS)	Seattle
1991	14:49.35	Elana Meyer (RSA)	Cape Town
1992	14:44.15	Elana Meyer (RSA)	Bellville
1993	14:45.92	Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)	Berlin
1994	15:05.94	Yelena Romanova (RUS)	Stockholm
1995	14:36.45	Fernanda Ribeiro (POR)	Hechtel
1996	14:41.07	Fernanda Ribeiro (POR)	Oslo
1997	14:28.09	Jiang Bo (CHN)	Shanghai
1998	14:31.48	Gabriela Szabo (ROM)	Berlin
1999	14:40.59	Gabriela Szabo (ROM)	Berlin
2000	14:30.88	Getenesh Wami (ETH)	Heusden
2001	14:29.32	Olga Yegorova (RUS)	Berlin
2002	14:31.42	Paula Radcliffe (GBR)	Manchester
2003	14:29.32	Berhane Adere (ETH)	Oslo
2004	14:24.68	Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR)	Bergen
2005	14:28.98	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Brussels
2006	14:24.53	Meseret Defar (ETH)	New York City
2007	14:16.63	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Oslo
2008	14:11.15	Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)	Oslo
2009	14:33.65	Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)	London
2009	14:24.37i	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Stockholm
2010	14:27.41	Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)	Saint-Denis
2010	14:24.79i	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Stockholm

Pos	Time	Athlete	Venue	Date
1.	12:37.35	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Hengelo	May 31, 2004
2.	12:39.36	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Helsinki	June 13, 1998
3.	12:39.74	Daniel Komen (KEN)	Brussels	August 22, 1997
4.	12:46.53	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)	Rome	July 2, 2004
5.	12:47.04	Sileshi Sihine (ETH)	Rome	July 2, 2004
6.	12:48.66	Isaac Songok (KEN)	Zürich	August 18, 2006
7.	12:48.81	Stephen Cherono (KEN)	Ostrava	June 12, 2003
8.	12:49.28	Brahim Lahlafi (MAR)	Brussels	August 25, 2000
9.	12:49.71	Mohammed Mourhit (BEL)	Brussels	August 25, 2000
10.	12:49.87	Paul Tergat (KEN)	Zürich	August 13, 1997
11.	12:50.24	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	Ostrava	June 12, 2003
12.	12:50.25	Abderrahim Goumri (MAR)	Brussels	August 26, 2005
13.	12:50.55	Moses Ndiema Masai (KEN)	Berlin	June 1, 2008
14.	12:50.72	Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (UGA)	Brussels	September 14, 2007
15.	12:50.80	Salah Hissou (MAR)	Rome	June 5, 1996
16.	12:50.86	Ali Saïdi-Sief (ALG)	Rome	June 30, 2000
17.	12:51.00	Joseph Ebuya (KEN)	Brussels	September 14, 2007
18.	12:51.45	Vincent Kiprop Chepkok (KEN)	Doha	May 14, 2010
19.	12:51.95	Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa (KEN)	Brussels	September 14, 2007
20.	12:52.33	Sammy Kipketer (KEN)	Oslo	June 27, 2003
21.	12:52.40	Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN)	Paris	July 8, 2006
22.	12:52.45	Tariku Bekele (ETH)	Berlin	June 1, 2008
23.	12:52.80	Gebregziabher Gebremariam (ETH)	Rome	July 8, 2005
24.	12:52.99	Abraham Chebii (KEN)	Oslo	June 27, 2003
25.	12:53.11	Mo Farah (GBR)	Fontvieille	July 22, 2011^[3]

Pos	Time	Athlete	Venue	Date
1.	14:11.15	Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)	Oslo	June 6, 2008
2.	14:12.88	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Stockholm	July 22, 2008
3.	14:20.87	Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)	Stockholm	July 29, 2011
4.	14:23.75	Liliya Shobukhova (RUS)	Kazan	July 19, 2008
5.	14:24.68	Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR)	Bergen	June 11, 2004
6.	14:28.09	Jiang Bo (CHN)	Shanghai	October 23, 1997
7.	14:28.39	Sentayehu Ejigu (ETH)	Paris	July 16, 2010
8.	14:29.11	Paula Radcliffe (GBR)	Bydgoszcz	June 20, 2004
9.	14:29.32	Olga Yegorova (RUS)	Berlin	August 31, 2001
9.	14:29.32	Berhane Adere (ETH)	Oslo	June 27, 2003
11.	14:29.82	Dong Yanmei (CHN)	Shanghai	October 23, 1997
12.	14:30.42	Sally Kipyego (KEN)	Zürich	September 8, 2011
13.	14:30.88	Gete Wami (ETH)	Heusden-Zolder	August 5, 2000
14.	14:31.14	Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (KEN)	Shanghai	May 23, 2010
15.	14:31.20	Gelete Burka (ETH)	Ostrava	June 27, 2007
16.	14:31.48	Gabriela Szabo (ROM)	Berlin	September 1, 1998
17.	14:31.91	Meselech Melkamu (ETH)	Shanghai	May 23, 2010
17.	14:31.91	Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet (KEN)	Shanghai	May 23, 2010
19.	14:32.08	Zahra Ouaziz (MAR)	Berlin	September 1, 1998
20.	14:32.33	Liu Shixiang (CHN)	Shanghai	October 21, 1997
21.	14:32.74	Ejegayehu Dibaba (ETH)	Bergen	June 11, 2004
22.	14:33.04	Werknesh Kidane (ETH)	Oslo	June 27, 2003
23.	14:33.13	Gulnara Samitova-Galkina (RUS)	Kazan	July 19, 2008
24.	14:33.49	Lucy Wangui (KEN)	Oslo	June 6, 2008
25.	14:33.84	Edith Masai (KEN)	Oslo	June 12, 2006

WORLD RECORDS IN THE MEN'S 5,000 METRES (OUTDOORS)
TIME	ATHLETE	DATE	PLACE
16:34.6	George Touquet-Daunis (FRA)	1897-10-31	Paris, France
16:29.2	George Touquet-Daunis (FRA)	1899-05-22	Lyon, France
15:29.8	Charles Bennett (GBR)	1900-07-22	Paris, France
14:59.0	Alfred Shrubb (GBR)	1904-06-13	Glasgow, United Kingdom

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1912 Stockholm	Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN)	Jean Bouin (FRA)	George Hutson (GBR)
1920 Antwerp	Joseph Guillemot (FRA)	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	Eric Backman (SWE)
1924 Paris	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	Ville Ritola (FIN)	Edvin Wide (SWE)
1928 Amsterdam	Ville Ritola (FIN)	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	Edvin Wide (SWE)
1932 Los Angeles	Lauri Lehtinen (FIN)	Ralph Hill (USA)	Lauri Virtanen (FIN)
1936 Berlin	Gunnar Höckert (FIN)	Lauri Lehtinen (FIN)	Henry Jonsson (SWE)
1948 London	Gaston Reiff (BEL)	Emil Zátopek (TCH)	Wim Slijkhuis (NED)
1952 Helsinki	Emil Zátopek (TCH)	Alain Mimoun (FRA)	Herbert Schade (GER)
1956 Melbourne	22x20px Vladimir Kuts (URS)	Gordon Pirie (GBR)	Derek Ibbotson (GBR)
1960 Rome	Murray Halberg (NZL)	Hans Grodotzki (EUA)	Kazimierz Zimny (POL)
1964 Tokyo	Bob Schul (USA)	Harald Norpoth (EUA)	Bill Dellinger (USA)
1968 Mexico City	Mohammed Gammoudi (TUN)	Kipchoge Keino (KEN)	Naftali Temu (KEN)
1972 Munich	Lasse Virén (FIN)	Mohammed Gammoudi (TUN)	Ian Stewart (GBR)
1976 Montreal	Lasse Virén (FIN)	Dick Quax (NZL)	Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand (FRG)
1980 Moscow	Miruts Yifter (ETH)	Suleiman Nyambui (TAN)	Kaarlo Maaninka (FIN)
1984 Los Angeles	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	Markus Ryffel (SUI)	António Leitão (POR)
1988 Seoul	John Ngugi (KEN)	Dieter Baumann (FRG)	Hansjörg Kunze (GDR)
1992 Barcelona	Dieter Baumann (GER)	Paul Bitok (KEN)	Fita Bayisa (ETH)
1996 Atlanta	Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI)	Paul Bitok (KEN)	Khalid Boulami (MAR)
2000 Sydney	Million Wolde (ETH)	Ali Saïdi-Sief (ALG)	Brahim Lahlafi (MAR)
2004 Athens	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
2008 Beijing	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)	Edwin Soi (KEN)

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1996 Atlanta	Wang Junxia (CHN)	Pauline Konga (KEN)	Roberta Brunet (ITA)
2000 Sydney	Gabriela Szabó (ROU)	Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)	Gete Wami (ETH)
2004 Athens	Meseret Defar (ETH)	Isabella Ochichi (KEN)	Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)
2008 Beijing	Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)	Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR)	Meseret Defar (ETH)

Championship	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983 Helsinki	Eamonn Coghlan (IRL)	Werner Schildhauer (GDR)	Martti Vainio (FIN)
1987 Rome	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	Domingos Castro (POR)	Jack Buckner (GBR)
1991 Tokyo	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	Fita Bayisa (ETH)	Brahim Boutayeb (MAR)
1993 Stuttgart	Ismael Kirui (KEN)	Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)	Fita Bayisa (ETH)
1995 Gothenburg	Ismael Kirui (KEN)	Khalid Bouhlami (MAR)	Shem Kororia (KEN)
1997 Athens	Daniel Komen (KEN)	Khalid Bouhlami (MAR)	Tom Nyariki (KEN)
1999 Seville	Salah Hissou (MAR)	Benjamin Limo (KEN)	Mohammed Mourhit (BEL)
2001 Edmonton	Richard Limo (KEN)	Million Wolde (ETH)	John Kibowen (KEN)
2003 Paris	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)
2005 Helsinki	Benjamin Limo (KEN)	Sileshi Sihine (ETH)	Craig Mottram (AUS)
2007 Osaka	Bernard Lagat (USA)	Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)	Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (UGA)
2009 Berlin	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	Bernard Lagat (USA)	James Kwalia C'Kurui (QAT)
2011 Daegu	Mo Farah (GBR)	Bernard Lagat (USA)	Dejen Gebremeskel (ETH)

Event	Distance	Placing
2005 European Indoor Athletics Championships	3000 m	Sixth
2006 European Cross Country Championships		Gold Medal^[7]
2006 European Championships in Athletics	5000 m	Silver medal
2006 Commonwealth Games	5000 m	Ninth
2007 World Championships in Athletics	5000 m	Sixth
2009 European Indoor Athletics Championships	3000 m	Gold medal
2009 World Championships in Athletics	5000 m	Seventh
2010 European Athletics Championships	10,000 m	Gold medal
2010 European Athletics Championships	5000 m	Gold medal
2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships	3000 m	Gold medal
2011 World Championships in Athletics	10,000 m	Silver medal
2011 World Championships in Athletics	5,000 m	Gold medal

Surface	Event	Time	Date	Place
Outdoor Track	800 m	1:48.69	3 August 2003	Eton
	1500 m	3:33.98	28 July 2009	Monaco
	One mile	3:56.49	6 August 2005	London
	2000 m	5:06.34	9 March 2006	Melbourne
	3000 m	7:38.15	31 August 2006	Zagreb
	Two miles	8:20.47	3 August 2007	London
	5000 m	12:53.11	22 July 2011	Monaco
	10,000 m	26:46.57	3 June 2011	Eugene
Indoor Track	1500 m	3:39.03	28 January 2012	Glasgow
	One mile	3:57.92	04 February 2012	Boston
	3000 m	7:34.47	21 February 2009	Birmingham
	Two miles	8:08.07	18 February 2012	Birmingham^[44]
Road	10 km	27:44	31 May 2010	London
	15 km	43:13+	25 October 2009	Portsmouth
	10 miles	46:25	25 October 2009	Portsmouth
	Half Marathon	1:00:23	20 March 2011	New York City Half Marathon

Persondata
Name	Farah, Mohammed
Alternative names
Short description	British long-distance runner
Date of birth	23 March 1983
Place of birth	Mogadishu, Somalia
Date of death
Place of death

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Ethiopia
2002	London Marathon		3rd		2:06:35
2005	Amsterdam Marathon		1st		2:06:20
2006	London Marathon		9th		2:09:31
2006	Berlin Marathon		1st		2:05:56
2006	Fukuoka Marathon		1st		2:06:52
2007	London Marathon		DNF		DNF
2007	Berlin Marathon		1st		2:04:26
2008	Dubai Marathon		1st		2:04:53
2008	Berlin Marathon		1st		2:03:59
2009	Dubai Marathon		1st		2:05:29
2009	Berlin Marathon		1st		2:06:08
2010	Dubai Marathon		1st		2:06:09
2010	New York City Marathon		DNF		DNF
2011	Great Manchester Run (10 km)		1st		0:28:10
2011	Berlin Marathon		DNF		DNF
2011	Great Birmingham Run (half-marathon)		1st		1:01:29
2012	Tokyo Marathon		4th		2:08:17

Distance	Mark	Date	Location	Notes
5000 meters	12:56.96	4 June 1994	Hengelo, Netherlands
Two miles	8:07.46	28 May 1995	Kerkrade, Netherlands	Third fastest time ever
10,000 meters	26:43.53	5 June 1995	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:44.39	16 August 1995	Zurich, Switzerland
5,000 meters	13:10.98	27 January 1996	Sindelfingen, Germany,	indoors
3,000 meters	7:30.72	4 February 1996	Stuttgart, Germany,	indoors
5,000 meters	12:59.04	20 February 1997	Stockholm, Sweden	indoors
Two miles	8:01.08	31 May 1997	Hengelo, Netherlands	Second fastest time ever
10,000 meters	26:31.32	4 July 1997	Oslo, Norway
5,000 meters	12:41.86	13 August 1997	Zurich, Switzerland
3,000 meters	7:26.15	25 January 1998	Karlsruhe, Germany	indoors
2,000 meters	4:52.86	15 February 1998	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10,000 meters	26:22.75	1 June 1998	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:39.36	13 June 1998	Helsinki, Finland
5,000 meters	12:50.38	14 February 1999	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10 kilometers	27:02	11 December 2002	Doha, Qatar	road race
Two miles	8:04.69	21 February 2003	Birmingham, UK	indoors
15 kilometers	41:22	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified
10 miles	44:24	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, world best
20 kilometres	55:48	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, US	en route to half-marathon
Half marathon	58:55	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, US
25 kilometers	1:11:37	12 March 2006	Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified – no post-race EPO test
One hour run	21,285 m	27 June 2007	Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marathon	2:04:26	30 September 2007	Berlin, Germany
Marathon	2:03:59	28 September 2008	Berlin, Germany
30 kilometers	1:27:49	20 September 2009	Berlin, Germany	en route to marathon

Distance	Mark	Date	Location
1,500 meters	3:33.73	6 June 1999	Stuttgart
Mile	3:52.39	27 June 1999	Gateshead
3,000 meters	7:25.09	28 August 1998	Brussels
Two miles	8:01.08	31 May 1997	Hengelo
5,000 meters	12:39.36	13 June 1998	Helsinki
10,000 meters	26:22.75	1 June 1998	Hengelo
10 km (road)	27:02	11 December 2002	Ad-Dawhah
15 km (road)	41:38	11 November 2001	Nijmegen
Ten miles (road)	44:24	4 September 2005	Tilburg
20,000 meters (track)	56:26.0	27 June 2007	Ostrava, Czech Republic
One hour (track)	21,285 m	27 June 2007	Ostrava, Czech Republic
20 km (road)*	55:48	15 January 2006	Phoenix
Half marathon	58:55	15 January 2006	Phoenix
25 km (road)	1:11:37	12 March 2006	Alphen aan den Rijn (not recognised by IAAF)
Marathon world record	2:03:59	28 September 2008	Berlin

Distance	Mark	Date	Location
1,500 meters	3:31.76	1 February 1998	Stuttgart
2,000 meters	4:52.86	15 February 1998	Birmingham
3,000 meters	7:26.15	25 January 1998	Karlsruhe
Two miles	8:04.69	21 February 2003	Birmingham
5,000 meters	12:50.38	14 February 1999	Birmingham

Records
Preceded by Saïd Aouita	Men's 5000 m World Record Holder 4 June 1994 – 6 June 1995	Succeeded by Moses Kiptanui
Preceded by Moses Kiptanui	Men's 5000 m World Record Holder 16 August 1995 – 22 August 1997	Succeeded by Daniel Komen
Preceded by Daniel Komen	Men's 5000 m World Record Holder 13 June 1998 – 31 May 2004	Succeeded by Kenenisa Bekele
Preceded by William Sigei	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder 5 June 1995 – 23 August 1996	Succeeded by Salah Hissou
Preceded by Salah Hissou	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder 4 August 1997 – 22 August 1997	Succeeded by Paul Tergat
Preceded by Paul Tergat	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder 1 June 1998 – 8 June 2004	Succeeded by Kenenisa Bekele
Preceded by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru	Men's Half Marathon World Record Holder 15 January 2006 – 9 February 2007	Succeeded by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru
Preceded by Paul Tergat	Men's Marathon World Record Holder 30 September 2007 – 25 September 2011	Succeeded by Patrick Makau
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Noureddine Morceli	Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1995	Succeeded by Michael Johnson
Preceded by Wilson Kipketer	Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1998	Succeeded by Hicham El Guerrouj
Preceded by Spain national football team	Prince of Asturias Award for Sports 2011	Succeeded by Incumbent
Sporting positions
Preceded by Khalid Skah	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 1994	Succeeded by Josphat Machuka
Preceded by Ismael Kirui	Men's 5000 m Best Year Performance 1994–1995	Succeeded by Daniel Komen
Preceded by Daniel Komen	Men's 3000 m Best Year Performance 1997–1998	Succeeded by Hicham El Guerrouj
Preceded by Daniel Komen	Men's 5000 m Best Year Performance 1998–1999	Succeeded by Brahim Lahlafi
Preceded by Fabián Roncero	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 2002	Succeeded by Hendrick Ramaala
Preceded by Sileshi Sihine	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 2005	Succeeded by Micah Kogo
Preceded by Zersenay Tadese	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 2006	Succeeded by Samuel Wanjiru
Preceded by Evans Rutto	Men's Fastest Marathon Race 2005–2008	Succeeded by Duncan Kibet Kirong
Preceded by Samuel Wanjiru	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance (tied with Deriba Merga) 2008	Succeeded by Patrick Makau

Persondata
Name	Gebrselassie, Haile
Alternative names
Short description	Athletics (sport) competitor, distance runner, marathoner
Date of birth	18 April 1973
Place of birth	Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia
Date of death
Place of death

Distance	Time	Year	Place
1500 Meters	4:05.62	2007	Rieti
3000 Meters	8:43.92	2007	London
5000 Meters	14:58.58	2008	New York
Marathon	2:37:23	2011	New York

Persondata
Name	Fleshman, Lauren
Alternative names	Thomas, Lauren
Short description
Date of birth	September 26, 1981
Place of birth	Culver City, California
Date of death
Place of death

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