Ben Jipcho

Ben Jipcho (1972)

Benjamin Wabura "Ben" Jipcho (born March 1, 1943 in Mount Elgon District ; † July 24, 2020 in Eldoret ) was a Kenyan track and field athlete . In 1972 he finished second in the 3000 meter obstacle course and in 1973 was the first obstacle runner to run under 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

Career

Ben Jipcho grew up as an orphan in the area of Mount Elgon in western Kenya, the exact place and date of birth are not known for sure. At first he became known as one of the pacemakers for Kipchoge Keino when he competed at major sports festivals. At the 1968 Olympic Games near Mexico City, Jipcho took the lead in the final of the 1,500-meter run in the first two laps and with Keino behind him was able to run out a considerable lead of around twenty meters, which Keino then used to win the Olympic Games , while Jipcho fell back to tenth place in the end. Jipcho won his first medal at the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970 on the obstacle course. Although he had practically no jumping technique at all, he won the silver medal behind the Australian Tony Manning in 8: 29.6 minutes and was just ahead of the 1968 Olympic champion Amos Biwott . In 1971 Jipcho won the pre-Olympic 3000-meter obstacle course at the Hanns-Braun-Sportfest in Munich in 8: 29.6 minutes, although he fell twice on the way; the next day he also won the 5000 meter run . At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Jipcho first appeared on the obstacle course. In 8: 24.6 minutes he won the silver medal behind Kipchoge Keino, just ahead of the Finn Tapio Kantanen . Three days after the obstacle final, Ben Jipcho also took part in the 5000 meter heat, but as third in his heat he could not qualify for the final.

In early 1973, Ben Jipcho won the Pan-African Games in Lagos both over 5000 meters and over the obstacles. In the obstacle course he ran in 8: 20.74 minutes, a time that would have meant the setting of Anders Gärderud's world record . However, this achievement was not recognized because the dimensions of the moat did not meet the regulations. From June 1973, Jipcho then competed in the European outdoor season. His first start was in the three-country battle between Finland and Italy against Kenya in Helsinki. There Jipcho was the first obstacle runner to run under 8:20 minutes on June 19 and improved the world record of Gärderud by one second in 8: 19.8 minutes. Just eight days later, Jipcho met Gärderud, also in Helsinki. Although Gärderud almost came close to his old world record, Jipcho had a big lead at the finish line, with 8: 14.0 minutes (electronic 8: 13.91 minutes) Jipcho had improved his own world record by almost six seconds. A few days later missed Jipcho the mile world record of Jim Ryun in Stockholm by only 0.7 seconds. In early 1974, Ben Jipcho competed at the British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch on three courses. First he won the obstacle course in 8: 20.67 minutes. Three days later he ran over 5000 meters 13: 14.3 minutes personal best; he won just ahead of Brendan Foster and remained first in the world annual best list over 5000 meters until the end of the year. A week later he finished third behind Filbert Bayi and John Walker in 3: 33.16 minutes over 1500 meters .

Then Ben Jipcho moved to the professional racing team of the American Mike O'Hara and ran there for two years outside the Olympic sports movement. Ben Jipcho then returned to Kenya, where he settled down as a farmer and businessman.

With a height of 1.70 m, his competition weight was 71 kg.

Best times

• 3000 meter obstacle: 8: 13.91 min (1973)
• 1500 meters: 3: 33.16 min (1974)
• 5000 meters: 13: 14.3 min (1974)

literature

• Manfred Holzhausen: world records and world record holder. Hour run / 20 km run / 3000 m obstacle course . Self-published, Grevenbroich 2001

Individual proof

1. ↑ Ben Jipcho, Olympic silver medalist who played role in 1968 upset of Jim Ryun, dies at 77

Web links

• Ben Jipcho in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )