Noah Ngeny
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2 November 1978 Uasin Gishu District, Kenya |
| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) |
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Medal record
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| Updated on 16 February 2014. | |
Noah Kiprono Ngeny (born 2 November 1978) is a former Kenyan athlete, Olympic gold medalist at 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and world record holder in the 1000 m.
Noah was born in the Uasin Gishu District in Kenya. Ngeny played volleyball during his school years and did not start running until 1996.
Ngeny first came to international prominence by setting two world junior records in 1997 – 3:32.91 for 1500 m in Monaco and 3:50.41 for the Mile in Nice, and under the guidance of renowned manager and coach, the late Kim McDonald, his progression continued in 1998, improving his 1500 m time to 3:30.34 in Monaco.
On 7 July 1999, in Roma, Ngeny was second to El Guerrouj when the latter set the world record (3:43.13) for the mile run. Ngeny stayed close to Hicham El Guerrouj down the stretch to finish at 3:43.40, still the second fastest mile ever run, and almost a full second inside the old WR (3:44.39) of Noureddine Morceli.
On 24 August 1999, Ngeny took the 1500 m silver medal (3:28.73) in the IAAF 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville, Spain, behind the reigning world champion Hicham El Guerrouj (3:27.65).
On 5 September 1999, Ngeny set the current world record 2:11.96 over 1000 m in Rieti, Italy, breaking the 18 years-standing record 2:12.18 held by Sebastian Coe (Coe's record was achieved in 1981). Ngeny's time of 2:11.96 still stands as the World record with only one other runner coming within 2 seconds of the time since (Taoufik Makhloufi). The previous record had been the oldest standing record at the time. It was also the last world record of any running distance that had not been previously held by an athlete of African descent.
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