Benjamin Kogo

Benjamin Kogo won the silver medal in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics when, despite being ahead at the final water jump, he was passed by his lesser known teammate Amos Biwott, who went on to take the gold medal.

Four years earlier in Tokyo, Kogo finished fifth in his heat and, as the first Kenyan to compete in the steeplechase, started what would be a Kenyan monopoly of the race. From 1968 through 2020, Kenya failed to medal at just two Olympics in this event, but those years were 1976 and 1980, when they boycotted the Games.

Prior to his Olympic medal, Kogo had already won the inaugural African Games in 1965, and he won the East African Championships in 1964, 1967, and 1968. At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, he won the bronze medal. Kogo retired in 1972 after a hip injury that prevented him from qualifying for that year’s Olympics. He died of prostate cancer in 2022.

Personal Best: 3000S – 8:31.6 (1967).