For Moses Kiptanui, it was just a matter of time.
The moment he crossed the line at Zurich&rsquo;s Weltklasse meeting in a world record of 8:02.08 in 1992, he knew he had the ability to become the first man in history to break the eight-minute barrier in the 3000m steeplechase.
The Kenyan first emerged in 1990, winning the world U20 and African titles over 1500m, but he barely registered on athletics fans&rsquo; radars. At around the same time, he had joined the Kenyan army and was living on a military base in Nyahururu but in 1991 he was suddenly given the opportunity to compete in Europe. On the plane journey from Nairobi to Stockholm, Kiptanui&rsquo;s agent, Kim McDonald, told him that he couldn&rsquo;t guarantee a lane in the 1500m. Eager to compete, Kiptanui suggested the steeplechase as he&rsquo;d won a few low-key domestic races and believed he could be competitive on the professional circuit.
When they arrived in Stockholm, the 1500m was full but there was one vacant place in the steeplechase. Because it was so last-minute, neither the media nor the results service had been informed about the new Kenyan runner. To everyone&rsquo;s surprise, Kiptanui ran away from the field &ndash; one which included Olympic champion Julius Kariuki and fellow Kenyan Patrick Sang &ndash; to win by four seconds in 8:07.89, just two seconds shy of the world record.
His subsequent victories at Zurich&rsquo;s Weltklasse and at the World Championships in Tokyo proved that his Stockholm triumph was no fluke. Kiptanui had arrived. 
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Moses Kiptanui wins the 1991 world steeplechase title</div>
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His 1992 campaign started promisingly, with a world indoor 3000m record of 7:37.31 in Seville. Disaster struck a few months later, though, when he finished fourth at the Kenyan Olympic Trials and wasn&rsquo;t selected for the Barcelona Games.
Just days after the conclusion of the Olympics, Kiptanui began his revenge mission. On 11 August he beat newly crowned Olympic steeplechase champion Matthew Birir in Monaco. Five days later, he set a world 3000m record of 7:28.96 in Cologne. Just three days after that, Kiptanui was victorious again in Zurich, this time with a world steeplechase record of 8:02.08. 
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Moses Kiptanui in action in Oslo in 1993</div>
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He retained his world title in 1993 and had another strong season in 1994. His 1995 campaign, though, was even better.
In just his third race of the outdoor season, he broke Haile Gebrselassie&rsquo;s world 5000m record in Rome with 12:55.30. He suffered one steeplechase defeat prior to the World Championships, his bare-footed compatriot Christopher Koskei taking a narrow win in Stockholm, but he rebounded later that month with victory in Oslo in 8:03.36, the second-fastest performance in history at that time.
In a stunning display, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQbsHEp-AI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiptanui successfully defended his title at the World Championships in Gothenburg</a>. Operating close to world record pace for much of the race, he pulled away from his final few opponents on the penultimate lap and went on to win by more than five seconds.
Now in possession of the three fastest times in history, Kiptanui knew the time was right for another crack at the world record.
Just five days after his triumph in Sweden, Kiptanui lined up at Zurich&rsquo;s Weltklasse. He made no secret of his intention to break the world record, but he also opted not to use pacemakers, insisting he was capable of achieving the feat of his own accord.
He covered the opening kilometre in 2:41.3 and was still slightly adrift of the required pace at 2000m, which he reached in 5:22.2. Koskei and Saudi Arabia&rsquo;s Saad Shaddad Al Asmari, who had taken silver and bronze respectively in Gothenburg, tried their best to stick to the three-time world champion, but Kiptanui moved up a gear in the final kilometre.
With one lap to go, Kiptanui had a six-second lead and was back on world record schedule. The clock still hadn&rsquo;t clicked around to seven minutes by the time the bell sounded, so he immediately knew that a 60-second final lap was all that was needed to make history.
Digging deep while still maintaining his bouncy stride, the diminutive Kiptanui flew around the final circuit in 60.10 seconds to stop the clock at 7:59.18. History had been made.
Steve Ovett, the 1980 Olympic 800m champion, was commentating on the race. &ldquo;That is one of the greatest performances anyone has ever seen in the history of athletics,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The four-minute mile was a barrier, but the eight-minute mark for the steeplechase &ndash; a run virtually gun-to-tape by this man &ndash; is absolutely magnificent.&rdquo;
Kiptanui, meanwhile, deemed it as his greatest achievement.
&ldquo;I have planned this world record since 1992,&rdquo; said Kiptanui, who earned a &euro;50,000 bonus and 1kg gold bar. &ldquo;To be the first man under eight minutes is more important for me than winning the gold medal at the World Championships.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want any pacemakers because I was very confident and I don&rsquo;t like to have anybody before me. It&rsquo;s better to clear the hurdles as the leader.&rdquo;
The only slight downside to the evening for Kiptanui was the fact that just 85 minutes after his landmark steeplechase run, his reign as 5000m world record-holder came to an end as Haile Gebrselassie clocked 12:44.39.
Unfazed at losing his record, Kiptanui simply declared: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get it back.&rdquo;
Kiptanui joined Henry Rono as the only man in history to set world records at 3000m, 5000m and the 3000m steeplechase. He never held all three records at the same time because his 3000m world record was broken in 1994, one year before he set a 5000m world record, but Kiptanui held the world indoor 3000m record while his steeplechase and 5000m world records were intact.
Kiptanui was the first man to run sub-eight for steeplechase and sub-13 for 5000m. To date, only one other man &ndash; current world steeplechase record-holder Saif Saeed Shaheen &ndash; has achieved that feat.
By the end of the 1995 season, Kiptanui owned the six fastest steeplechase performances in history, topped by his 7:59.18 world record, while no other man had bettered 8:05 at that point. But Kiptanui's run paced the way for others, and by the end of 1997 there were two new additions to the sub-eight-minute club.
Twenty-five years since Kiptanui's run, there are now 12 members of that club. But Kiptanui will forever be remembered as the founding member.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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<h3> The sub-eight-minute club</h3>
In order of joining:
1 Moses Kiptanui (KEN) 7:59.18 - 16 Aug 1995 2 Wilson Boit Kipketer (KEN) 7:59.08 - 13 Aug 1997 3 Bernard Barmasai (KEN) 7:55.72 - 24 Aug 1997 4 Brahim Boulami (MAR) 7:58.50 - 17 Aug 2001 5 Reuben Kosgei (KEN) 7:57.29 - 24 Aug 2001 6 Stephen Cherono (KEN) 7:58.66 - 24 Aug 2001 7 Paul Kipsiele Koech (KEN) 7:57.42 - 14 Sep 2003 8 Ezekiel Kemboi (KEN) 7:58.85 - 8 May 2009 9 Brimin Kipruto (KEN) 7:53.64 - 22 Jul 2011 10 Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (KEN) 7:56.81 - 11 May 2012 11 Jairus Birech (KEN) 7:58.14 - 5 Sep 2014 12 Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) 7:58.15 - 20 Jul 2018
<h3> Most sub-eights</h3>
There have been 37 sub-eight-minute performances in history. 19 of those &ndash; more than half &ndash; are shared between two men: Saif Saeed Shaheen and Paul Kipsiele Koech. Only three other men &ndash; Kiptanui, Kemboi and Boulami &ndash; have broken the barrier on more than two occasions.
10 Saif Saeed Shaheen (QAT) formerly Stephen Cherono (KEN) 9 Paul Kipsiele Koech (KEN) 3 Moses Kiptanui (KEN) 3 Ezekiel Kemboi (KEN) 3 Brahim Boulami (MAR)
In terms of venues, Monaco boasts the most sub-eight-minute clockings with 10, closely followed by Brussels (8). Rome (5) and Zurich (4) are next on the list with Doha (3) in fifth.
<h3> Just how good is a sub-eight-minute clocking?</h3>
With 37 such performances in the past 25 years, a sub-eight-minute run in the steeplechase is still a relatively rare occurrence. To put it into context, this is how it compares to other significant barriers in men&rsquo;s athletics events, based on the number of performances achieved in that same timeframe.
 Discipline, barrier, number of performances in past 25 years
Triple jump, 18 metres &ndash; 12 High jump, 2.40m &ndash; 31 Steeplechase, eight minutes &ndash; 37 Discus, 70 metres &ndash; 56 400m, 44 seconds &ndash; 62 110m hurdles, 13 seconds &ndash; 64 Long jump, 8.50m &ndash; 66 Pole vault, 6.00m &ndash; 76 Javelin, 90 metres &ndash; 91 1500m, 3:30 &ndash; 95 10,000m, 27 minutes &ndash; 123 Shot put, 22 metres &ndash; 124 400m hurdles, 48 seconds &ndash; 194 200m, 20 seconds &ndash; 305 5000m, 13 minutes &ndash; 361 100m, 10 seconds &ndash; 925 Mile, four minutes &ndash; 2000+

For Moses Kiptanui, it was just a matter of time.

On its 25th anniversary, remembering Kiptanui’s historic sub-eight-minute steeplechase

There have been national junior championships for athletes dating back to the 1920s, with the former Czechoslovakia having organised what is believed to be the first in 1921. But having a global event – the IAAF World Junior Championships – that puts young talent on display is a relatively recent innovation.The early and mid-1980s witnessed a period of many changes in the sport, driven by the energy and vision of the then IAAF President Primo Nebiolo, and among the new ideas to emerge was the introduction of the championships.The concept of having a major international junior championship was far from new – the first South American Junior Championships were as far back as 1959, a similar event in Europe saw the light of day in 1964 while transatlantic junior matches between the USA and USSR started in 1972 – but Nebiolo realised it was time to organise a festival for teenage talent on a truly worldwide basis.At the 34th IAAF Congress held in conjunction with the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and just three years after he came to power, Nebiolo's brainchild was given the green light.The first edition was awarded to Athens later in the year, and the Greek federation swiftly moved into action to organise the first championships in 1986.It was a huge success, possibly bigger than anyone expected, attracting 1188 athletes from 143 countries.Medals in Athens were spread among 27 nations, with African and Asian competitors notably on the podium despite their Area Associations not having a continental junior championship at the time.The five-day event also got a fillip thanks to two world junior records: by the Soviet javelin thrower Vladimir Sasimovich (78.84m) and the US men's 4x400m relay team (3:01.90).There is no doubt, in retrospect, that those first championships clearly demonstrated that there was a real desire by the vast majority of the IAAF's members to test their top young athletes against the best of the rest of the world.It set the scene for the future of what was to become a biennial event. <div class="quote">“Those who follow our sport closely know that these championships were an important moment in our (IAAF) development,” reflected Nebiolo in 1998. </div>“It gave us an opportunity to showcase tomorrow's stars as they take their first steps to greatness. The championships give youngsters a chance to gain the valuable experience of top class competition,” he added, reiterating several of his initial reasons for establishing the IAAF World Junior Championships.Nebiolo was absolutely right in both respects. Many athletes who were later to become household names got their first gold medal on a world stage at the IAAF World Junior Championships while others now knew what it would take to get to the top.British hurdler Colin Jackson, Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor and East German discus thrower Ilke Wyludda are just three of the athletes that stand out from the list of winners from Athens. By contrast, the Soviet race walker Olimpiada Ivanova was a lowly 15th in the 5000m race walk but went on, in a Russian vest, to win world and European titles and set world records. Similarly, Algeria’s Hassiba Boulmerka failed to make either the 800m or 1500m final at the 1986 World Junior Championships but, six years later, would win the gold medal over the longer distance at the 1992 Olympic Games.<div class="quote">“When I consider my career, the World Junior Championships gold is one of my most memorable races," remembered Jackson in his autobiography. "I'll always remember it because it had all those ingredients that I would need later to be a champion: to come back successfully from adversity and live up to the responsibility of being a champion." </div>Every single championships since 1986 has seen more illustrious names make their mark on the sporting consciousness for the first time.During the 1990s, names such as Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Boldon, Kenya's Moses Kiptanui and Daniel Komen, Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Derartu Tulu, United States' Adam Nelson, Ecuador’s Jefferson Perez, Romania's Gabriela Szabo, China's Wang Junxia and Cuba's Osleidys Menéndez were all winners at the World Junior Championships.All were to strike gold again at the IAAF World Championships later in their careers.During the 10 years from the 2000 IAAF World Junior Championships in Santiago de Chile, a ground-breaking event as it was the first time that a global stadium-based IAAF competition was staged in South America, a similar roll call can be made. Jamaica's Usain Bolt gave notice of his phenomenal talent when he won the 200m title in 2002 on home soil at the prodigious age of 15, thrilling and stunning observers in the Jamaican capital Kingston. Four years later, Kenya’s David Rudisha was one of the brightest stars of the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing, winning over 800m.Like Bolt, Rudisha was to become a world record-breaker and to be honoured as an IAAF Athlete of the Year before the end of the decade.Among the other men's names that leap out from the list of winners in the new millennium are the USA’s LaShawn Merritt and Kerron Clement, Ethiopia’s Ibrahim Jeylan, France’s Teddy Tamgho, Grenada’s Kirani James and Germany’s David Storl. Female athletes who made the transition from being junior champions to superstars of the sport in this period include Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar, Russia's pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, Australian discus thrower Dani Samuels and combined events exponents Carolina Kluft of Sweden and Russia's Tatyana Chernova.The popularity and universality of the championships has also steadily grown with more than 1500 athletes in action from 171 nations at the 2012 edition in Barcelona, the biggest ever participation figures on both counts.A number of winners in the Catalan city, notably Dominican Republic’s 400m runner Luguelin Santos, Kenyan distance runners Conseslus Kipruto and Faith Kipyegon, Trinidad and Tobago's javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott, and 800m gold medallists Nijel Amos and Ajee Wilson, from Botswana and the USA respectively, have already made a big impact at senior international championships in a short time.The question now to be asked is, who will make their mark at Oregon 2014 and put their names into the annals of athletics history?Phil Minshull for the IAAF(Some of the content in this article first appeared in the IAAF centenary book IAAF 1912-2012, 100 Years of Athletics Excellence.)

There have been national junior championships for athletes dating back to the 1920s, with the former Czechoslovakia having organised what is believed to be the first in 1921. But having a global event – the IAAF World Junior Championships – that puts young talent on display is a relatively recent innovation.

On its 25th anniversary, remembering Kiptanui’s historic sub-eight-minute steeplechase

Teenage talent to the fore – a brief history of the IAAF World Junior Championships