Paul tergat, the sportsman of the decade

True legends never die, so goes the adage. And, ever since he bumped into the national limelight aged 22, Paul Tergat has confirmed the truth of the saying by maintaining his prowess in both track and road races.

Though, at the height of his exploits, he was beaten to an Olympics gold medal — the ultimate achievement of any athlete — by Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, Tergat has set the bar high on endurance and consistency.

He celebrated his biggest success when he became the first man to run the marathon in under 2:05 hours (2:04:55) in Berlin in 2003 (Gebreselassie has since nibbled on the record by a minute), won five world cross country championship titles in a row, twice finished second at the Olympics in the 10,000-metre event, and set world records on the track as well as on the road.

Who-is-who

Every year, Tergat trains about 30 athletes at his base in Ngong in the outskirts of Nairobi, and the list of the men and women who have gone through his hands reads like the who-is-who of the local athletics scene, from four-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Cheruiyot to Joshua Chelang’a (Seoul Marathon) and Victor Kigen (Belgrade Marathon).

Born on June 17, 1969 in Riwo, Baringo, Tergat is one of the few athletes whose career in track and field events blossomed late when, after joining the Kenya Army aged 21, he turned his back on the less glamorous basketball.

Two years after joining the Army (in 1992), Tergat beat a strong field that included John Ngugi, a five-time world cross-country champion, to win the Kenya national title. But it was not until the following year that he made his international debut at the World Cross-Country championships in Spain, where he finished tenth.

In January 2004, Tergat became a WFP ambassador against hunger, and now uses the high-profile platform of international athletics to raise awareness of the same school feeding programme that helped set him on the road to success. In 2007, he dedicated his participation in the London Marathon to the plight of hungry children all over the world.

In 1996, he waltzed his way into record books when he became the fourth Kenyan in four years to break the 10,000 metres world record after William Sigei, Richard Chelimo and Yobes Ondieki.

Tergat, a devout Christian, divides his time between his wife Monica, their four children, and his vast business empire.