Paul Tergat AFABW (© getty images)
Biography
World Marathon record holder Paul Tergat, Kenya, was born on 17 June 1969 in Kabarnet, Barango. Before becoming an athlete Tergat used to be a basketball player and in 1992 his exceptional career began when he won the Kenyan Cross Country Championships title; however he had to miss the World Championships through injury.
Tergat has since won a record five consecutive IAAF World Cross Country titles from 1995 to 1999. On the track, Tergat won two World Championships (1997 and 1999) and two Olympic (1996 and 2000) silver medals at 10,000m on each occasion beaten by Haile Gebrselassie.
Tergat also won two consecutive editions of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1999 and 2000. In September 2003, he ran a superb 2:04:55 to break the Marathon World record in Berlin. At the Athens Olympic Games, he made his first Olympic appearance at the marathon and finished tenth.
Paul Tergat has been married to Monica for 13 years and has three children. He has been a goodwill ambassador for the World Food Programme of the United Nations since January 2004. Tergat is also a member of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission.
