Daniel Komen

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Medal record
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for  Kenya
World Championships
Gold	1997 Athens	5,000 m

Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born May 17, 1976 in Elgeyo-Marakwet District) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Komen is the only man to achieve back-to-back sub-four-minute miles, and is also the second man (after Said Aouita) ever to break both the 13-minute mark in the 5,000-meter run and the 3½-minute mark for the 1,500-meter run. He currently holds the indoor and outdoor world records for the 3,000 meters.

Komen is from the Keiyo sub-tribe of Kalenjin people in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. He is one of thirteen children and began running at the age of seven as a means of getting to school. He rose to prominence in the mid-1990s after his exceptional junior career: at age 17, he placed second at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, and in 1994, he became the World Junior Champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

On September 1, 1996 in Rieti, Italy, Komen ran a spectacular world record time of 7:20.67 in the 3000 metres, breaking Noureddine Morceli's former record by 4.4 seconds.

A year later, Komen made history again. In Hechtel, Belgium, Komen became the first man to run two miles in under eight minutes, clocking a world record 7:58. Just seven months later, at an Australian athletics meet in Sydney, Komen ran another 7:58. These sub-eight-minute feats remain unique to this day.

Komen's indoor 3,000-meter record of 7:24.90, set in Budapest on February 6, 1998, is still referred to as "Mount Everest"^[1] in athletics circles and has been bettered only twice outdoors, one of them being Komen's own world record.

Other accolades include being the 1997 World Championships in Athletics and 1998 Commonwealth Games 5,000-meter champion. He won the 5000 metres race at the 1998 IAAF World Cup ^[2].

Although being out of the limelight for a decade, he was reported to be active still in 2009 ^[3].

Daniel Komen's personal records, and their place on the world ranking of all times, as of August 2008^[update]:

References

1. ^ Bekele to hit the boards for the first time in Stuttgart January 29, 2004, IAAF (paragraph 12 of the article)
2. ^ gbrathletics.com: IAAF WORLD CUP IN ATHLETICS
3. ^ The Standard, February 17, 2009: Athlete want AK calendar changed
4. ^ World Records and Best Performances

External links

• IAAF profile for Daniel Komen
• Kimbia Athletics profile (archive.org)

Records
Preceded by Noureddine Morceli	Men's 3000 m World Record Holder September 1, 1996 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Haile Gebrselassie	Men's 5000 m World Record Holder August 22, 1997 – June 13, 1998	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie
Sporting positions
Preceded by Moses Kiptanui	Men's 3000 m Best Year Performance 1996	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie
Preceded by Haile Gebrselassie	Men's 5000 m Best Year Performance 1996 – 1997	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie