Noah Ngeny

Noah Kiprono Ngeny (born November 2, 1978) is a Kenyan athlete, the surprise winner of the 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Ngeny, a great 1500 m runner, had difficulty breaking through, with many of his compatriots also being strong middle and long distance runners. He finally got his chance at an international championship meet in 1999, when he qualified for the World Championships. In Seville, he was defeated in the final by the reigning world champion Hicham El Guerrouj.

The two met again in the final of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. El Guerrouj, world record holder and twice world champion, had only been defeated once since the previous Olympics, and was the overwhelming favourite. The two rivals lead the race going into the last lap of the final, El Guerrouj leading Ngeny. With less than 100 m to go, Ngeny started moving next to the leader, grabbing the lead with just 15 m to go. He held on until the finish line, causing one of the greatest upsets at the Sydney Olympics.

While El Guerrouj went on to win the 2001 and 2003 World Championships, Ngeny could not follow up his 2000 success, partly due to a debilitating car accident. At the Kenyan Trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics, he failed to qualify for the team, and was not able to defend his title in Athens.

In 1999 Ngeny set the current world record over 1,000 meters, breaking the long-standing record held by Sebastian Coe, with a time of 2:11.96.

Ngeny was also second to El Guerrouj when the latter set the world record for the mile run on July 7, 1999, at 3:43.13. Ngeny stayed close to El Guerrouj down the stretch to finish at 3:43.40, still the second fastest mile ever run.

In 2000, Ngeny finished second to El Guerrouj in the 1500 m at the Weltklasse Zürich meet in a time of 3:28.12, making him the Kenyan record holder and third fastest ever in the event. This record was surpassed by Bernard Lagat in 2001.

External links

• The Standard (Kenya), May 14, 2006: Electric Ngeny plots comeback