Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete. He was the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC) until 29 September 2017. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2000, he became an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012, he was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame.
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Craig Mottram is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metre event.
Hari Chand was an Indian long-distance runner. In the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, he came eighth in the heats of the 10,000 metre run with a time of 28:48.7. This however was a national record for an Indian athlete and was only beaten 32 years later by Surendra Singh. In the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow he came 10th in the heats of the 10,000 meter run. He also came 22nd in the 1980 Olympic Men's Marathon. He ran barefoot in Montreal.
Djibouti has participated in nine Summer Olympic Games as of the completion of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. They have never competed in the Winter Olympic Games. Djibouti debuted at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States of America with three athletes, but did not take home a medal. The highest number of Djiboutian athletes participating in a summer Games is eight in the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain. Only one Djiboutian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics, marathon runner Hussein Ahmed Salah, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 marathon.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1,500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.
Bayron Efrén Piedra Avilés is an Ecuadorian middle distance and long-distance runner.
Edward Sequeira, popularly known as Eddie, is a retired rhythmic middle distance runner from India. Essentially a half miler doing the metric mile for stamina, Sequeira also excelled in the 5,000 metres. Born on 6 February 1940 in Bombay, Eddie studied at: St. Paul's High School from where he joined the Central Railway as mechanical apprentice. Sports were compulsory for the Railway employees and Sequeira proved a natural athlete. He took up athletics seriously in 1959 and by 1963 had created new marks for the 800 and 1,500 at the Central Railway meet and then went on to repeat the performances at the Inter-Railway Meet in Delhi, He clocked 1:52.6 for the half mile and 3:49.4 for the 1,500 metres. His next step was the National titles and he duly won both the events in the National Games, retaining his hold on the events from 1963 to 1973. He set a new record in the 1500 metres in 1966, his time of 3.43.7 being even faster than the existing Asian mark. This record remained in the books for well over 35 years before Bahadur Prasad updated it during the Permit Meet in Delhi.
Kalayathumkuzhi Mathews Binu is an Indian track and field athlete from Kerala who specializes in 400 metres and 800 metres. He held the current 400 metres national record of 45.48 s set at the 2004 Athens Olympics on 20 August 2004 which was later broken by Mohammad Anas 45.32 sec in Commonwealth games, Gold coast 2018 sec. He broke the 44-year-old Olympics mark held by Milkha Singh who set an Indian National Record with a timing of 45.73 s at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He and his elder sister K. M. Beenamol made history when they became the first Indian siblings to win medals in a major international competition. They won medals at the Busan Asian Games (2002). While Binu won the men's 800 metres silver, his sister won the gold medal in the women's event. Binu received the Arjuna Award for the year 2006 for his achievements in the Indian athletics.
Rachita Mistry née Panda is an Indian former sprinter from Odisha.
Saraswati Dey-Saha is an Indian former track and field sprinter from Chittamara, Belonia Tripura. She holds the current 200 metres national record of 22.82 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Ludhiana on 28 August 2002. She broke the previous mark held by Rachita Mistry since July 2000. In doing so, Saraswati became the first Indian woman to break 23-second barrier in 200 metres. The highlight of her career was the gold medal she won at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
Manjeet Kaur is an Indian sprint athlete from Punjab who specializes in 400 metres. She held the 400 m National record of 51.05 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Chennai on 16 June 2004. She broke the previous record held by K. M. Beenamol since November 2001. In doing so, she passed the qualifying mark for the 2004 Athens Olympics. She along with Chitra K. Soman, Rajwinder Kaur and K. M. Beenamol form the team that holds the current National record in 4 x 400 metres relay.
Ryan Gregory Gregson is an Australian middle-distance runner. He formerly held the Australian record for the men's 1500 metres now held by Stewart McSweyn.
Jaisha Orchatteri Puthiya Veetil, commonly known as O. P. Jaisha, is an Indian track and field athlete from Kerala. She is the current national record holder in the marathon, a distinction she achieved by clocking 2:34:43 at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. In the process she bettered her own mark of 2:37:29, set at the 2015 Mumbai Marathon. She is also a former national record holder in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
In India, the Athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946.
Lalita Babar is an Indian long-distance runner. She was born in a small village in the Satara district, Maharashtra. She predominantly competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase and is the current Indian national record holder and the reigning Asian Champion in the same event.
Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson is an Indian middle-distance runner and an Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who specialises in the 800 and 1500 metres event. He participated in the 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2018 Commonwealth Games he finished fifth setting a new national record in the 1500 metres race by breaking 23 year old record of Bahadur Prasad. Later in 2018, he went on to win the gold medal in the men's 1500m at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia with a timing of 3:44.72 in the final event, as well as a silver medal in 800 metres.
Parul Chaudhary is an Indian athlete from Uttar Pradesh, who specialises in 5000 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. She is the first Indian runner to clock a sub-9 minute time in the women's 3000m.
