Africa365.com/Sports/special
Paul Tergat
On sunday,the 28th of september 2003,Kenya's athletics golden boy Paul Tergat set the best all time record ever in the long distance(Marathon)race.He broke the previous record set by the American runner Khalid Khannouchi of 02h05"38" in London recorded on the 14th of april 2002.By completing the race in an unbelievable 2h14"44",Tergat broke the record by 43 seconds!.
....The 34 year old world champion has had a great athletics carreer,winning countless races and inspiring many other athletes in the world with his hard working spirit.Its an honor for me to feature this great man on my website,alongside some of the other great Kenyan runners who -in their humblness sometimes dont get the kind of global recognition that they richly deserve.
 Humble upbringing:Born on the 17th of June 1969 at Riwo village , on the shores of Lake Baringo- Kenya, Tergat ran to and from school
everyday, both in his primary and secondary school education.Like most of Kenya's athletics greats,he rose from his humble upbringing on Kenya's Rift Valley province to become the world's greatest Marathon runner.
Great spirit: Few runners have caused a stir like Tergat has since he moved to the marathon; even before he broke the record,many people had already predicted that he'd be the first to set an all time best even after he'd ended up always finnishing second to other top marathon runners like Ethiopia's Gabreselasie and America's Khanouchi.Few runners have Tergat's speed, either. He's the former world-record holder in the 10,000 meters and a two-time Olympic silver medalist. He's a five-time world champion in cross-country and has two world titles in the half-marathon.
Great strides: -
""I didn't have anything to prove anymore in track, in cross-country, in the 10K and the half-marathon. So it's the challenge,'' Tergat said of why he made the jump to the longer distance.
"I feel this is where the real challenge is, the marathon.''
."
And indeed he met the challenge in a great way,finally wining the race with a margin that may prove too hard for the other athletes to beat.Despite his busy athletics schedule and his other full time job as an officer in the Kenyan armed forces,Tergat has lent himself to other great courses both in Kenya and around the world.
Charitable man: -
The World Food Programme (WFP) appointed Tergat as it�s Kenya's Goodwill Ambassador for fundraising towards a local school feeding programme.He was involved in a fund raising activity organised by AMREF-Kenya,
�Stop the flying toilets campaign�, whose aim was to raise money to build toilets for residents of Kibera Slum in Nairobi.Tergat is also paying school fees for less fortunate children and is involved in two homes for
street children. He is a board member of a Baringo School for students with visual and hearing imparement.
Secret fans: -
Tergat has met his fair share of celebrities, personalities, royalty & heads of state.The most memorable include; former South African President
Nelson Mandela; US President George Bush & British Prime Minister Tony Blair.He also met Kenya's former President Moi.On a low key vissit to the states recently,he had a chance to meet with president Bush."He told Tergat and Tanui that he initially wanted to go for a run with them even though they'd probably be able to keep up with him "running backwards.""
Great sports channels
|
function updatep()
{
var obj;
obj=document.form1.jump;
window.location="http://www."+obj.options[obj.selectedIndex].value+".com"
}
order=0 name=im>
Forever a star: -
Recently included in the Kenya's athletics hall of fame,Paul Tergat will forever remain one of athletic's greatest.He's proved himself and done it all.
Click here to Check out