Paul Tergat

Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner.

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

He attended Riwo Primary School and later joined Kapkawa Boys High School.

Unlike many athletes, Tergat realised his talent after graduating high school.

Tergat won five straight IAAF World Cross Country Championships titles, 1995 to 1999, which was a record.

He holds the record for the present 15 km distance, which he established in 1995.

His performances in the Saint Silvester race have earned him celebrity status in Brazil.

He has had an intense rivalry with his friend Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.

In the Olympic Games 10,000m finals of both the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he was defeated by Gebrselassie by slim margins.

(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 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-metre world record on 22 August 1997 in Brussels with a time of 26:27.85 minutes.

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 record was broken again by Gebrselassie in 1998 (time 26:22:75), but Tergat's time remains a Kenyan record (as of 2024).

On the road, Tergat broke the half marathon world record on 4 April 1998 in Milan by running in 59:17 minutes.

He won the Lisbon Half Marathon in 2000, setting a new course record and personal best of 59:06.

In 2000, the margin of victory was only nine-hundredths of a second.

Tergat finished second in his first three marathons: London Marathon in 2001 and 2002 and Chicago Marathon in 2001.

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.

He continued marathoning by two fourth places: Chicago 2002 and London 2003.

He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time.

Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".

Towards the end of his career, he concentrated exclusively on the marathon.

Tergat set several world records and won many titles on the track, in cross country, and on the road.

He lives and trains in Eldoret, Kenya.

He set the marathon world record of 2:04:55, on 28 September 2003 at the Berlin Marathon.

That is an average pace of 0:02:57 per kilometre (20.3 km/h) or 0:04:46 per mile (12.6 MPH).

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, then the second-fastest marathon performance in history.

He won the race again in 2005 with a time of 59:10.

Tergat's achievements also include 5 victories in the traditional Saint Silvester Road Race, the most important event in Latin American street racing.

Tergat's world record was broken in 2005 by Samuel Wanjiru, another Kenyan.

Tergat won the New York City Marathon 6 November 2005, 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.

The three runners raced again in the 2007 version with Tergat being the only one of them to finish.

Tergat's world record was broken in 2007 by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia.

Tergat's time remained the Kenyan record until 2009, when winner Duncan Kibet and 2nd placed James Kwambai both timed 2:04:27 at the Rotterdam Marathon

He became an IOC member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013.