Dennis Kipruto Kimetto

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Dennis Kipruto Kimetto
Berlin marathon 2012 Kimetto.jpg
Kimetto at the 2012 Berlin Marathon
Personal information
NationalityKenyan
Born (1984-01-22) 22 January 1984 (age 40) [1]
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) [2]
Weight55 kg (121 lb) [2]
Sport
Country Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya
Sport Athletics
Event Long-distance running

Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (born 22 January 1984) is a Kenyan long distance runner who competes in road running events. He was the world record holder in the men's marathon with a time of 2 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds, a record which he held until Eliud Kipchoge broke it in 2018 with a time of 2:01:39. [3]

Contents

Career

Hailing from Eldoret and part of a training group including Geoffrey Mutai, [4] Kimetto's first major win came in the half marathon section of the Nairobi Marathon in 2011. Running as Dennis Koech, he topped the podium in a time of 1:01:30. [5] He quickly rose into the global running elite in his first outings outside of Kenya. At the RAK Half Marathon he defeated a field including Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich to win the race in 60:40 minutes. [4] His age was misreported as ten years younger, and his following run of 59:14 minutes to win the Berlin Half Marathon in April was briefly considered a world junior best. [6] An erroneous passport was the cause of both the age difference and the Koech misnomer, his surname actually being Kimetto. This was rectified in later competitions. [7] [8]

With Kimetto's personal data corrected, he went on to break his first major record at the BIG 25 Berlin. His time of 71:18 for 25 kilometres knocked a sizeable margin off Sammy Kosgei's world record of 71:50. [9] After this he made the fastest marathon debut in history that September. Again in Berlin, he ran alongside Geoffrey Mutai for much of the race as he recorded a time of 2:04:16, one second behind Mutai, to set the fifth fastest time ever run at that point. [10] Some reporters observed that Kimetto stayed solidly behind the more prominent Mutai in the final section of the race and concluded that he allowed his partner to take the victory which clinched a World Marathon Majors series title for Mutai. [11]

In 2013 Kimetto set two World Marathon Majors course records, at Tokyo in 2:06:50 [12] (since bettered) and at Chicago in 2:03:45, the fastest time ever on American soil for a record quality course. On 28 September 2014, Kimetto broke the world record at the Berlin Marathon with 2:02:57 and became the first man to run under 2:03. His 5-kilometre splits were recorded as 14:42, 14:42, 14:46, 14:26, 14:32, 14:30, 14:09, 14:42. [13] His second half of 1:01:12 was the fastest in history excluding those from the downhill and greatly wind-aided 2011 Boston Marathon.

His 2015 season wasn't as impressive as he only completed the London Marathon, finishing third, failing to complete the IAAF World Championships marathon in Beijing in August as well as the Fukuoka Marathon in December where he stopped at the 5-kilometre mark after dropping off the pace at 2 kilometres due to an injury. After finishing ninth at the 2016 London Marathon, Kimetto removed himself from consideration for the Rio Olympics, [14] intending instead to run in the Chicago Marathon. [15] However, he pulled out ahead of the race, citing a stress fracture in his left leg. [16]

Kimetto's injury problems continued in 2017, with a knee injury forcing him to withdraw from the field for the Boston Marathon. [17] He failed to finish both the Chicago Marathon in October and the Honolulu Marathon in December.

At the Vienna City Marathon in April 2018 Kimetto dropped out before the 25-kilometre point.

Kimetto grew up in a rural farming community. "I think what really motivates me to be a fighter is the fact that I come from a humble background," Kimetto says. "I try to really make sure that I achieve my best so that I can assist my family." [18]

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
2011 Nairobi Half Marathon Nairobi, Kenya 1st1:01:30
RAK Half Marathon Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1st1:00:40
2012 Berlin Half Marathon Berlin, Germany 1st59:14
BIG 25 Berlin Berlin, Germany 1st1:11:18
Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 2nd2:04:16
2013 Tokyo Marathon Tokyo, Japan 1st2:06:50
Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States 1st2:03:45
2014 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 1st2:02:57 (WR)
2015 London Marathon London, England 3rd2:05:50
2016 London Marathon London, England 9th2:11:44
2018 Shanghai International Marathon Shanghai, China 10th2:14:54
World Marathon Majors results timeline
World Marathon Majors 20122013201420152016
Tokyo Marathon - 1st ---
Boston Marathon -----
London Marathon --- 3rd 9th
Berlin Marathon 2nd - 1st --
Chicago Marathon - 1st ---
New York City Marathon -----

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References

  1. "2013 Tokyo Marathon" (PDF). tokyo42195.org. World Marathon Majors . Retrieved 16 June 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Fiche Dennis Kimetto - Athlétisme".
  3. Ingle, Sean (September 16, 2018). "Eliud Kipchoge smashes world marathon record by 78 seconds in Berlin". The Guardian . Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Hutchings, Tim (2012-02-17). Keitany wins but records blown off course in windy RAK Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  5. October 2011: AIMS results Archived 2011-12-15 at the Wayback Machine . AIMS. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  6. Martin, David (2012-04-01). Koech and Ongori prevail in heated battles in Berlin Half. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  7. New name and new distance as Kenya’s Newcomer Dennis Kimetto goes for 25 k in Berlin. Berlin Run (2012-05-03). Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  8. Kavarna 2012: Facts and Figures. IAAF . Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  9. Kimetto breaks 25km World record in Berlin. IAAF (2012-05-06). Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
  10. Butcher, Pat (2012-09-30). Close victory for Mutai but more straightforward for Kebede in Berlin - REPORT. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  11. Tucker, Ross (2012-10-02). Geoffrey Mutai misses world record in an intriguing Berlin Marathon. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  12. Nakamura, Ken (2013-02-24). Kimetto clocks course record 2:06:50 at Tokyo Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-03-02.
  13. Douglas, Scott (2014-09-28) Dennis Kimetto's Marathon World Record By The Numbers. Retrieved on 2014-09-28.
  14. "Marathon world-record holder Kimetto to miss Rio". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  15. "IAAF: Kimetto and Kiplagat announced for Chicago Marathon| News | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  16. Ryan, Shannon (2016-09-22) Chicago Marathon record holder Dennis Kimetto withdraws from field. Retrieved on 2018-05-01.
  17. Shulman, Dan. (2017-03-17). World record-holder withdraws from 2017 Boston Marathon. Retrieved on 2018-05-01.
  18. Battaglia, Joe (2014-09-24) From poverty to podium. Retrieved on 2014-09-28.
Records
Preceded by Men's Marathon World Record Holder
28 September 2014 – 16 September 2018
Succeeded by