PAUL TERGAT

'Paul Kibii Tergat' (born June 17, 1969) is a Kenyan professional athlete. He is the current world record holder in the marathon, 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.

Contents

Early life

Career

Honors

Personal bests

Other activities

External links

References

Early life

Paul Tergat was born on June 17, 1969 in Riwo, Baringo District, in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.

Career

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', which was set September 28, 2003 in Berlin, Germany. That is an average pace of '0:04:46' per mile (12.6 MPH) or '0:02:57' per kilometer (20.3 km/h). 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 momentary 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.
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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."
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 status in Brazil, where he is the second most recognized African personality, second only to Nelson Mandela.
He has had an intense rivalry with his friend Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. In the Olympic Games 10,000m finals of both 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics, he was defeated by Gebrselassie by slim margins. In 2000, the margin of victory was only nine hundredths of a second.
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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 minutes. (Tergat had run 58:51 minutes 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 minutes 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 three runners raced again in the 2007 version with Tergat being the only one of them to finish.

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.
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 10^th .
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.
Marílson Gomes dos Santos won the 2006 New York City Marathon; Tergat finished third. 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." Tergat steadily closed the gap over the final five miles.
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Tergat finished sixth (2:08:06) at the 2007 London Marathon in April 2007. The entry list was competitive, including Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie, who dropped out just past the 30-K mark. Kenya's Martin Lel won the race in a time of 2:07.42, after a dramatic, gutsy finish.
He has expressed a desire to compete in 2008 Olympics.

Honors

★ 1995

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★ Gold medal, 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

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★ Bronze medal, 1995 World Championships in Athletics 10,000 m

★ 1996

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★ Silver medal, 1996 Summer Olympics 10,000 m

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★ Gold medal, 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

★ 1997

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★ Gold medal, 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

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★ Silver medal, 1997 World Championships in Athletics 10,000 m

★ 1998

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★ Gold medal, 1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

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★ Gold medal, IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

★ 1999

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★ Gold medal, 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

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★ Silver medal, 1999 World Championships in Athletics 10,000 m

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★ Gold medal, IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

★ 2000

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★ Bronze medal, 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

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★ Silver medal, 2000 Summer Olympics 10,000 m

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★ Gold medal, IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

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

Other activities

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.

External links

★ http://www.paul-tergat.net/ The first website dedicated to Paul Tergat

★ Paul's training video 1

★ Paul's training video 2

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★ A Kenyan XC legend - Paul Tergat Omulo Okoth

★ Marathon man with a mission

★ Paul Tergat Versus Haile Gebrselassie - www.paul-tergat.net

References

1. Marathon world best progression
2. Tergat goes under 2:05 in Berlin - IAAF
3. YouTube video
Paul Tergat's marathon world record
- 2003 Berlin marathon
4. 2000 Sydney Olympics YouTube video
men's 10000m finish
5. 2000 Sydney Olympics YouTube video
men's 10000m last 3k
6. 2000 Sydney Olympics YouTube video
men's 10000m introduction, start, and to the 5 lap
7. YouTube video
2006 New York City Marathon Highlights