Joseph Keter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Men’s Athletics
Gold 1996 Atlanta 3000m steeplechase

Joseph Keter (born June 13, 1969) is a former Kenyan athlete, winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Born in Lessos, Nandi District, Joseph Keter, an officer of Kenyan Army, had only one good season throughout his athletics career, which culminated with an Olympic gold medal.

At Atlanta, the hot favourite to 3000 m steeplechase gold medal was a world record holder Moses Kiptanui. But in the Olympic final, Kiptanui was strongly challenged by his Armed Forces' colleague Keter. The Kenyan pair reached the final water jump side by side, but then Keter slowly edged ahead to win the gold medal by 1.11 seconds.

After the Olympic Games, Keter beat Kiptanui again in Zürich, running his personal best 8.05.99. After that glorious season, Keter kept running for some seasons and won the IAAF Grand Prix in 3000 m steeplechase in 1997.

Olympic champions in men's 3000 m steeplechase
1900 (2500 m): George Orton | 1900 (4000 m): John Rimmer | 1904 (2590 m): Jim Lightbody | 1908 (3200 m): Arthur Russell | 1920: Percy Hodge | 1924: Ville Ritola | 1928: Toivo Loukola | 1932: Volmari Iso-Hollo | 1936: Volmari Iso-Hollo | 1948: Tore Sjöstrand | 1952: Horace Ashenfelter | 1956: Chris Brasher | 1960: Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak | 1964: Gaston Roelants | 1968: Amos Biwott | 1972: Kip Keino | 1976: Anders Gärderud | 1980: Bronisław Malinowski | 1984: Julius Korir | 1988: Julius Kariuki | 1992: Matthew Birir | 1996: Joseph Keter | 2000: Reuben Kosgei | 2004: Ezekiel Kemboi
In other languages