Sammy Kipketer


Sammy Kipketer is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and cross-country running.

Career

He graduated from Lelboinet Secondary School in 1998. The next year he qualified for the 1999 [IAAF World Cross Country Championships], where he finished sixth at the junior race. The Kenyan Army recruited him in 2001.
He now trains with Daniel Komen who was Kenya's foremost runner for a while. Kipketer broke the 3,000m List of junior [world records in athletics|junior world record] twice when he was 17. He has also broken the 13-minute barrier for the 5000 metres. He won a 10000 metres in Brussels with his personal record time of 26:49.38. Right now he is focusing on 10-kilometre races.
He holds the 5 kilometres road running world record as recognised by the Association of [Road Racing Statisticians], while IAAF does not keep a world record over the distance. Kipketer's time, 12:59.5 minutes, was set at the Carlsbad 5000 race in Carlsbad, California in March 2000.
He won the Parelloop 10K in race in the Netherlands in 2001, setting a new world record of 27.18 minutes. Haile Gebrselassie ran the distance in 27:02 minutes in 2002 in Doha, IAAF recognised the time as world record, while ARRS rejected it claiming Gebrselassie got assistance by a vehicle. Thus Kipketer's time is still a valid ARRS world record, although Micah Kogo has since set a better time, still awaiting ratification by ARRS.
Kipketer is managed by Tom Ratcliffe of Kimbia Athletics and coached by Dieter Hogen. He belongs to the Keiyo tribe, a sub-tribe of Kalenjin. He was born in Rokocho, near Kaptarakwa. He is married and has 1 daughter, and he currently lives in Merewet, Uasin [Gishu District]. He is 1.66 metres tall and has a weight of 52 kg.

Personal bests