Boniface Kiprop of Uganda takes the win 2004 Amorebieta xc (© Argazkari)
As surprising as it may sound, Boniface Kiprop is already to Uganda what the great double Olympic 10,000m champion Haile Gebrselassie is to Ethiopia.
Aged 18, Kiprop may not yet have accumulated the glut of medals the great Gebrselassie has done during an illustrious career but the Ugandan could be on the cusp of greatness and set to raise the profile of his homeland in the same way the great distance runners of Ethiopia and Kenya have done for generations.
Even though he is still a teenager, and eligible for junior competition in 2004, he has shared audiences with the President and is a massive name in his native Uganda.
Kiprop explained: “The Olympic committee, my (athletics) federation and President Yoweri Museveni, want to speak to me. The President is a nice man, he spoke to me twice last year.”
Kiprop is one of the global stars of the cross country scene having destroyed the opposition at the l’cross Internacional Zamotza in Amorebieta, Spain earlier this month to claim a 38 second victory against top senior opposition including European cross country champion Sergiy Lebid and Kenya’s former world 10,000m champion Charles Kamathi.
Following Bekele’s example?
Indeed, such was the level of performance against his top senior rivals the Ugandan is considering attempting the short course race against the seniors on the first day of March’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Brussels and the following day tackling the junior race.
This was the double attempted by World 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele back in 2001 – with the Ethiopian winning silver in the short course race before striking gold in the junior race.
Kiprop first made his mark globally in the 2002 version of the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, aged 16. His brave front-running style, in which he tried to run the legs of his Kenyan and Ethiopian opponents, earned much respect and he was a popular winner of the bronze medal in the junior race at Leopardstown racecourse.
In last year’s World cross in Lausanne the Ugandan was strongly tipped for gold in the junior race but had to settle for silver to Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, and last August Kipchoge put Kiprop’s performance in context by memorably winning an epic world 5000m title in Paris, defeating World 1500m champion Hicham El Guerrouj and Bekele.
John Akii-Bua remains a big name in Uganda
Kiprop was born at high altitude in the small market town on Kapchorwa on Mount Elgon just a few miles from the Kenyan border with his four sisters and three brothers and fondly recalls his first memories of running.
“When I was young I listened on the radio and remember Paul Tergat racing Haile Gebrselassie in the Olympic Games 10,000m,” added Kiprop. “I started running at school when I was about 12.”
Yet much of Uganda’s athletics heritage is based on the achievements of sprinters and hurdlers – notably 1972 Olympic 400m hurdles John Akii-Bua (who died in 1997) and 1996 Olympic 400m bronze medallist Davis Kamoga.
“In Kenya there are lots of runners but few in Uganda,” added Kiprop. “John Akii-Bua is very much the big name in Uganda.”
After his success in Dublin in 2002, Kiprop linked up with British-based agency Kim Sports Management and he now divides much of time between his homeland and London, where he lives and trains three times a day with Tanzania’s IAAF World Half-marathon silver medallist Fabian Joseph.
Indeed, the pair dream of defeating athletes from the two powerhouses in world distance running – Kenya and Ethiopia. “We talk about beating the Kenyans and Ethiopians to make our countries better known,” admitted Kiprop.
Track goals – already thinking of senior medals
But Kiprop is far from just a cross country specialist and last summer made his mark on the track. He recorded a national record of 27:15.88 for 10,000m in Brussels and also set a Ugandan record for the 5000m of 13:16.21.
He also has much higher aspirations for 2004.
“I have already qualified for the Olympic Games and I think I will run the 10,000m where I want to win a medal,” he explained. “I hope to run 26 minutes something for the 10,000m this year and 12:50 something for the 5000m.”
