Moses Kiptanui

One of the world’s most famous 3000m steeplechasers in the 1990s, Moses Kiptanui of Kenya won the World Championship title three consecutive times (1991, 1993, 1995), with silver in 1997. He was world-ranked number one from 1991 to 1995, dominating the event. The first man to ever run the steeplechase under eight minutes, Kiptanui is also the 1996 Olympic silver medalist from Atlanta.

Kiptanui missed the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona when the World champion surprisingly failed to qualify at the Kenyan Olympic Trials. Just a week after the Games he missed, Kiptanui broke Moroccan Said Aouita’s record over 3000m, and three days after that, he broke the 3000m steeplechase world record previously held by countryman Peter Koech going 8:02.08. In 1995, Kiptanui broke the 5000m world record in Rome (12:55.30), and shortly after winning his 1995 World title, he broke the 3000m steeplechase record again in Zurich (7:59.08). In 1997, Kiptanui ran his personal best 3000m steeplechase time in Cologne (7:56.16), ranking him seventh on the all-time list.

Kiptanui, a World Junior 1500m champion, was gifted a horse for his achievements at the 1995 World Championships, but he sold the horse for $10,000 USD to buy a dairy farm that produced 500 litres of milk daily from 20 lactating cows (from his herd of 100) and employed 12 farmhands and an animal health expert. Post athletics career, Kiptanui also coached 2004 Olympic gold medalist steeplechaser Kenya’s Ezekiel Kemboi. Involved in sports administration, Kiptanui was chairman of the Marakwet District branch of Athletics Kenya. In honour of his athletic achievements, a school was built and opened in 2012. The “Shoe4Africa Moses Kiptanui School” has eight primary classes with 320 students. His younger brother, Philemon Tanui, was also a middle distance/steeplechaser who ran track for the University of Wyoming, in Laramie, USA.

Personal Best: 3000S – 7:56.16 (1997).