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World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Henry Rono, the great Kenyan distance runner who set four world records in 81 days in 1978, passed away on Thursday (15th) at the age of 72. I’m thinking.
As part of his world record bid, Rono made history in the 3000m, 3000m hurdles, 5000m and 10,000m. His records in the 3,000 meters and 3,000 meters hurdles lasted for more than a decade.
Rono was born on February 12, 1952 and hails from Kiputaragon in the Rift Valley of Kenya. A bicycle accident left him unable to walk until he was 6 years old. Lono was inspired to take up running by two-time Olympic champion Kip and his Keino.
Rono joined the Kenyan Army in 1973 and continued to progress in athletics. He was selected to compete in the 3,000 meter hurdles and 5,000 meters at the 1976 Olympics, but he was unable to go to Montreal due to the Kenyan boycott.
Based in the United States and studying at Washington State University, Rono won the first of three NCAA cross country titles that year. He retained his title in 1977 and scored a hat trick in 1979. Also in 1977 he became the NCAA indoor 3000 meter champion and won the championship. He won the NCAA 3,000 meter steeplechase in 1978 and 1979.
Rono achieved his first world record on April 8, 1978 in Berkeley, California. The 26-year-old physical education and psychology sophomore, who was racing at the University of California’s Edwards Field track, broke the world record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:08.4. He beat the record set by Dick Quax the previous year by 4.5 seconds.
Next up was the 3000m hurdles record. On May 13, in a windy race in Seattle, he crossed the finish line in 8:05.4, shaving 2.6 seconds off Anders Garderud’s record set nearly two years earlier.
On June 11, Rono broke the 10,000m world record by a whopping 8 seconds at Vienna’s Cricketer’s Place, running a time of 27:22.47, bettering the 27:30.47 set by Samson Kimobwa a year earlier. broke the record.
Then, at the Bislett competition held in Oslo on June 27, he ran a time of 7 minutes 32.1 seconds, beating Brendan Foster’s almost four-year-old record by more than three seconds.
Rono won 31 consecutive outdoor races in 1978, including winning the 3000m steeplechase and 10,000m double at the All-African Games in Algiers, and the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. He won the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5000m.
Rono graduated from Washington State University in 1981 with a degree in general studies. This year, he improved his own 5000 meters record in Knarvik, Norway to his 13:06.20, setting the fifth world record in his career.
After retiring from athletics, Rono qualified as a teacher and became a coach.
“My two dreams were born in the 1960s: I became a professional teacher and a track and field champion,” Rono said in a 2003 World Athletics interview. “Running was a career he started in the early 1970s and ended 25 years later. Teaching was a career he started in the 1990s, but he now finds it much more enjoyable than being a celebrity in the sports world. I am.”
world athletics
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