Paul Tergat

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Olympic medal record
Men's athletics
Silver 1996 Atlanta 10,000m
Silver 2000 Sydney 10,000m
Paul Tergat breaks marathon record at Berlin
Paul Tergat breaks marathon record at Berlin

Paul Kibii Tergat (born June 17, 1969 in Riwo, Baringo District) the world record holder in the marathon, is 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 the Nairobi suburb of N'Gong.

Tergat achieved his most recent victory on November 6, 2005, when he won the New York City Marathon in a thrilling sprint finish through New York's Central Park, prevailing over defending champion Hendrick Ramaala 2:09:29.90 to 2:09:30.22.

He holds the marathon world record of 2:04:55 hours, which was set September 28, 2003 in Berlin, Germany. In his world record race, Tergat badly abraded his foot. He later said it felt like the sole of his shoe fell off. He also took a wrong turn near the finish. Tergat's countryman Sammy Korir, who was a pacesetter for the race, nearly caught up to him. Korir took second place in 2:04:56, still the second-fastest marathon performance in history.

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. The World Cross Country Championship was the toughest distance race in the world to win."[citation needed]

Tergat's achievements also include 5 victories in the traditional Saint Silvester Marathon, the most important event in Latin American street racing. He holds the record for the present 15 km distance, which he established in 1995. His performances in the Saint Silvester Marathon have earned him celebrity in Brazil, where he is the second most recognized African personality, second only to Nelson Mandela.[citation needed]

He has had an intense rivalry with his friend Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. In the Olympic Games 10,000 m finals of both 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney), the Ethiopian beat Tergat by slim margins. In 2000, the margin of victory was only nine hundredths of a second. Tergat finished second to Gebrselassie in the 1997 and 1999 World Championships in Athletics at 10,000 m, and finished third in the 1995 version of that race, behind Gebrselassie and Moroccan Khalid Skah.

On the track, Tergat broke Gebrselassie's 10,000 meter world record on August 22, 1997 in Brussels, Belgium with a time 26:27.85 minutes. On the road, Tergat broke the half marathon world record on April 4, 1998 in Milan by running in 59:17 hours. (Tergat had run 58:51 hours at the Stramilano half marathon in 1996, but a misplaced cone made the course slightly too short and no record was allowed.) The previous record, 59:47 hours was set by Moses Tanui in 1993. Tergat's world record was broken in 2005 by Samuel Wanjiru, another Kenyan.

When Tergat raced Gebrselassie in the London Marathon in 2002, it was Tergat who beat Gebrselassie; Tergat was in second place behind then world record holder Khalid Khannouchi. The 2002 London Marathon is the only marathon in which Tergat and Gebrselassie have faced each other.

In January 2004 Tergat was named a UN World Food Programme (WFP) "Ambassador Against Hunger". When he was a child, Paul Tergat's family was too poor to send him to school with food. According to Tergat, he would not have gotten a full education were it not for the World Food Program, which provided lunch at his school.[citation needed]

In the 2004 Athens Olympic marathon, Tergat missed his water point and drank water supplied by organizers. He is accustomed to drinking water at room temperature; the organizers supplied cold water, which gave Tergat cramps. Tergat finished 10th .

A week prior to the London Marathon on April 23, 2006, Tergat pulled a calf muscle. Calling the injury "cruel," he was forced to withdraw from the star-studded race, which would have featured a long-awaited showdown with Haile Gebrselassie. The race was won by Felix Limo of Kenya. Tergat was unable to defend his title at the New York City Marathon, which was won by Marílson Gomes dos Santos. Gomes made a move at mile 19 and Tergat did not respond, saying "I'll be honest, I didn't know exactly who he was."[citation needed] Tergat steadily closed the gap over the final five miles.

Tergat will be competing at the London Marathon in April 2007. The entry list is extremely competitive, and includes Haile Gebrselassie.

He has expressed a desire to compete in 2008 Olympics.

Tergat set up the Paul Tergat Foundation in 2005. It is meant to help disadvantaged Kenyan sportspeople [1]. He runs a Sports Marketing and PR company known as Fine Touch Communications ( organises the annual Sportsman Of the Year Awards in Kenya in conjunction with Safaricom, a leading mobile telephony provider in Kenya. He's also considering launching a clothing line under the name "Tergat" in the coming months.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Personal bests

"+" indicates mark set en route during a longer race
"a" indicates course slightly downhill

Distance Mark Date Location
3,000 m 7:28.70 1996-08-10 Monaco
5,000 m 12:49.87 1997-08-13 Zürich
10,000 m 26:27.85 1997-08-22 Bruxelles
10 km (road) 27:45+ 2006-03-26 Lisboa
15 km (road) 42:04+ 1998-04-04 Milano
Ten miles (road) 45:12+ 1998-04-04 Milano
20 km (road) 56:18+ 1998-04-04 Milano
Half marathon 59:06a 2000-03-26 Lisboa
30 km (road) 1:29:00+ 2002-04-14 London
Marathon (WR) 2:04:55 2003-09-28 Berlin

[edit] External links

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