Henry Rono

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Henry Rono (born February 12, 1952 in Nandi County ) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who set four world records over 3000 meters , 3000 meters obstacle , 5000 meters and 10,000 meters within 81 days in 1978 .

Life

In 1978 Rono won gold medals over 3000 meters obstacle and 5000 meters at the Commonwealth Games . In the same year he set world records in four different disciplines. After these successes, Rono developed mental health problems and suffered from paranoia. But he made an impressive comeback in 1981. On September 13th he was able to improve the 5000 meter world record to 13: 06.20 minutes. Because of this success, he was courted by many managers and started at meetings every 48 hours. The result was that he burned out and could not perform at his best. Switching to the marathon distance didn't help him make a comeback either; at the 1986 Chicago Marathon he had to be content with a 26th place. In the 1990s he caused a stir with excessive alcohol. The World Athletics Federation IAAF even had to buy him out of prison. At times he lived in a shelter for the homeless.

After years of doing odd jobs, he managed to become alcoholic. Today he works as a physical education teacher in Albuquerque , looks after a team as a trainer and is striving to get close to his former competition weight of 63 kg (at a height of 1.73 m) after having weighed 100 kg in the meantime.

In 2007 Henry Rono published his autobiography Olympic Dream. In 2008 the IAAF presented him with an Inspirational Award at its world gala .

Top performances

  • 1 mile (hall): 3: 59.2 min, March 20, 1977, Pullman
  • 3000 m: 7: 32.1 min, June 27, 1978, Oslo
  • 3000 m obstacle: 8: 05.4 min, May 13, 1978, Seattle
  • 5000 m: 13: 06.20 min, September 13th 1981, Knarvik
  • 10,000 m: 27: 22.47 min, June 11, 1978, Vienna
  • Marathon : 2:19:12 h, October 26, 1986, Chicago

World records

10,000 m

5000 m

  • April 8, 1978 in 13: 08.4 min in Berkeley (undercut by himself after three and a half years)
  • September 13, 1981 in 13: 06.2 min in Knarvik (improved by David Moorcroft on July 7, 1982)

3000 m

  • June 27, 1978 in 7: 32.1 min in Oslo (improved 11 years later by Saïd Aouita on August 20, 1989)

3000 m obstacle

  • May 13, 1978 in 8: 05.4 min in Seattle (improved 11 years later by Peter Koech on July 3, 1989)

Awards

publication

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Henry Rono: "I went through hell" . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . November 27, 2008
  2. ^ IAAF: Henry Rono recovers his place in history and receives Inspirational Award ( Memento from February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). February 3, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Rono, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Kenyan long distance and obstacle runner
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Nandi (District)