Isaac Kiprono Songok

Isaac Kiprono Songok (born April 25, 1984 in Kaptel near Kapsabet , Nandi County ) is a Kenyan middle and long distance runner .

Life

The 2001 youth world champion in the 1,500 meter run was ninth over the same distance at the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris / Saint-Denis and twelfth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

As a result, he switched to the 5000-meter run . Despite formidable times (he ran in the fastest race of 2006, only beaten by Kenenisa Bekele , 12: 48.66 min), he was also denied a great success at international championships, although he faced tough national competition in the Kenyan eliminations prevailed: At the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 he was tenth, at the World Championships in Osaka in 2007 he was eliminated in the preliminary run.

Cross-country running proved to be his real strength . In 2004 he finished seventh on the short distance of the cross-country world championships , in 2005 he won bronze and then silver in 2006, remaining just one second behind the long-term cross-country world championship winner Kenenisa Bekele.

Isaac Kiprono Songok belongs to the Nandi ethnic group and is the second of seven children of a small farmer. He attended St. Patrick's High School in Iten , the director of which Brother Colm O'Connell discovered and encouraged his running talent. He received further support from Bernard Lagat , who comes from the same village.

Personal bests

• 1500 m: 3: 30.99 min, August 6, 2004, Zurich
• 1 mile : 3: 54.56 min, August 20, 2001, Linz
• 2000 m: 4: 56.86 min, August 31, 2001, Berlin
• 3000 m : 7: 28.72 min, August 27, 2006, Rieti
• 5000 m: 12: 48.66 min, August 18, 2006, Zurich

Web links

• Isaac Kiprono Songok in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Portrait at IAAF - Focus on Athletes ( Memento from March 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), August 17, 2004 (updated on August 23, 2007)