Young Berardelli takes over mantle from Rosa

Growing up in Brescia, northern Italy, Berardelli had a feverish passion for bikes, competing as a road cyclist from the age of 13 to 18 and studying coaching to degree level under world cycling body, UCI.

Berardelli, now 34, then took up studies in sports science at the Milan State University from 1999 to 2003, presenting a final project titled The Kenyan marathon phenomenon.

The project would catapult him into the world of athletics coaching where he is today undoubtedly the world’s most successful young athletics coach, going by the number of medals he has minted in his career.

Born in Brescia on July 8, 1980, Berardelli was inspired into athletics by Gabriele.

“In 2002, I met Dr Gabriele Rosa, founder of the Fila Team and coach of some of the most important Kenyan athletes, for the first time,” says Barardelli, who has seen the good and ugly side of Kenya, once emerging unscathed in a violent car-jacking in his Eldoret work station.

'I started working with him as an assistant coach'

“The same year, I started working with him as an assistant coach, assisting some of the Kenyan athletes who used to partly train in Italy.”

Berardelli travelled to Kenya for the first time in 2004, taking up a role as technical director of the Rosa team, before finally taking over coaching duties  and producing a galaxy of Kenyan World and Olympic champions.

“I decided that if I was to learn the job of coaching better, then I would have to live and work in Kenya.”

What makes Berardelli stand out is that, unlike other coaches who specialise in sprints, middle distance or long distance coaching, he handles athletes from 800 metres on the track all the way to the marathon.

On the track, he is credited with leading Janeth Jepkosgei and Alfred Kirwa Yego to 800 metres gold medals at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships and also coached Nancy Jebet Lagat to gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The Italian’s other world beating athletes include road specialists Martin Lel – a 2:05.15 marathoner who completed a hat-trick of victories in the London Marathon (2005, 2007, 2008) alongside a brace of wins in New York (2003, 2007), 2012 – Seoul Marathon champion James Kwambai (PB 2:04.27), 2008 Chicago Marathon champion Evans Cheruiyot (PB 2:06.25), 2011 Paris Marathon champion Stanley Biwott (2:05.11) and Olympic silver medalist, 2010 Paris and 2013 London Marathon champion Prisca Jeptoo (2:20.14).

Berardelli’s track roll of honour includes World 800m champion Eunice Sum (1.57:38), Jepkosgei (1.56:04), 2008 Olympic 1,500m champion Nancy Jebet Lagat (4.00), 2013 World 5,000m silver medalist and 2014 Diamond League winner Mercy Cherono (14.35) and 2007 World 800m champion Alfred Kirwa Yego (1.42:57).

Just how Berardelli juggles between track and marathon coaching is amazing.

“My typical days are pretty much the same,” he explains.

He then normally goes out early in the morning, from 5 a.m., for workouts with marathon runners then spends some time on specialised training for athletes recovering from injuries.

“In the afternoon I then work with the track athletes until 5 or 6 p.m. after which I have my dinner and sleep, and I do this day in, day out,” he says.

For a coach who turns 35 this year, Berardelli has most certainly carved an enviable niche for himself as one of the world’s top tacticians.