Paul Ereng

Paul Ereng (born August 22, 1967 in Kitale , Trans-Nzoia District , Kenya ) is a former Kenyan athlete and Olympic champion .

Ereng was a 400-meter runner until 1987 . After enrolling at the University of Virginia , he began training over 800 meters in early 1988. In the 1988 season he remained unbeaten over 800 meters and won the NCAA championships that year and the following year.

At the XXIV Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 , he won the semifinals in the 800-meter run in a personal best of 1: 44.55 min and in the subsequent final run the gold medal in front of defending champion Joaquim Cruz (silver) and the Moroccan Saïd Aouita (bronze ).

At the indoor world championships in Budapest he also won gold over 800 meters with a new indoor world record of 1: 44.84 min. In 1991 in Seville he was able to repeat his success, but at the World Championships in Tokyo he only reached 4th place. At the XVV. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona , Spain , he was eliminated in the semifinals.

He finished his studies in 1993 and has since worked at the University of Texas at El Paso as an athletic trainer.