DANIEL KOMEN

'Daniel Kipngetich Komen' (born May 17, 1976 in Elgeyo-Marakwet District) is a Kenyan middle and long distance runner. Komen is the first and only man to achieve back-to-back sub-four minute miles, and is also the second man ever to break both the 13-minute mark in the 5000 meter run and the 3½ minute mark for the 1500 meter run. He currently holds the indoor and outdoor world records for the 3000 meters.
Komen is from the Keiyo sub-tribe of Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley of Kenya. He is one of thirteen children and began running at the age of seven as a means of getting to school. He rose to prominence in the mid-1990's after his exceptional junior career: at age 17, he placed second at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, and in 1994, he became the World Champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
On September 1, 1996 in Rieti, Italy, Komen ran a spectacular world record time of 7:20.67 in the 3000 metres, breaking Noureddine Morceli's former record by 4.4 seconds.
A year later, Komen made history again. In Hechtel, Belgium, Komen became the first man to run two miles in under eight minutes, clocking a world record 7:58. Just seven months later, at an Australian athletics meet in Sydney, Komen ran another 7:58. These unprecedented sub-eight minute feats remain unique to this day.
Komen's indoor 3000m record of 7:24.90, set in Budapest on Feb 6, 1998, is still referred to as "Mount Everest"^[1] in athletics circles and has only been bettered twice outdoors, one of them being Komen's own world record.
Other accolades include being the 1997 World Championships in Athletics and 1998 Commonwealth Games 5000m champion.
''Daniel Komen's personal records, and their place on the world ranking of all times, as of september 2007:''

Distance	Time	All-Time Rank	Date	Place
1500 Meters	'3:29.46'	49th	August 16 1997	Monaco
1 Mile	'3:46.38'	12th	August 26 1997	Berlin
2000 Meters	'4:51.30'	13th	June 5 1998	Milano
3000 Meters	'7:20.67'	World Record	September 1 1996	Rieti
2 Miles	'7:58.61'	World Best	July 17 1997	Hechtel
5000 Meters	'12:39.74'	3rd	August 22 1997	Brussels
10,000 Meters	'27:38.32'	471	August 30 2002	Brussels

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References

External links

References

1. IAAF website, paragraph 12 of the article

External links

★ Kimbia Athletics