The character arc of Kip Keino
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born 17 January 1940 at Kipsamo in Nandi. Between then and now sit an orphaned childhood with an aunt, the Kenya Police, two golds at the 1965 All-Africa Games, a world record at 3000 metres on 27 August 1965, the 1500 metres in Mexico City in 1968 run against medical advice, steeplechase gold in 1972, retirement in 1973, a children's home, and the first Olympic Laurel in 2016. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Kip Keino?
They told him not to run, and he won by twenty metres.
His name means born near the grain storage shed, in Nandi. He was orphaned young and raised by an aunt, and joined the Kenya Police before he was an athlete. In 1965 he won gold in both the 1500 and the 5000 metres at the All-Africa Games, and on 27 August that year set a world record at 3000 metres of seven minutes thirty nine point six, taking more than six seconds off the previous mark.
Then Mexico City in 1968, which is the race people still describe. He was suffering from a gallstone condition, and the doctors told him not to compete. He competed anyway, took silver in the 5000 metres, and then on the day of the 1500 metres final his bus was stuck in traffic. He got out and jogged to the stadium. He then beat the American favourite Jim Ryun by twenty metres, which remains the largest winning margin in the history of the event.
Four years later in Munich he won gold in the 3000 metres steeplechase, an event he had barely run, and silver in the 1500. He retired in 1973 and went to Eldoret with his wife Phyllis, where they established the Lewa Children's Home for orphans and founded schools. Sports Illustrated named him among its sportspeople of the year in 1987, he became an IOC honorary member in 2000, entered the athletics hall of fame in 2012, and received the first Olympic Laurel in 2016. An asteroid was named after him in 2021. His line is worth reading for the twenty metres, and for what he did with the forty years after them.
The moments
Kip Keino's timeline.
The 1940s
Orphaned, raised by an aunt
Setback, and it changed everything. No parents, an aunt, and a police uniform before there was ever a running career.
The 1960s
Two golds in one Games
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two distances, two golds, at the same championships.
A world record at 3000
Milestone, and it changed everything. Six seconds off a world record. That is not an improvement, it is a different race.
Follow the medical advice, or run
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: run anyway, taken, or withdraw. He took silver in the 5000 and won the 1500 by twenty metres, which is still the largest winning margin in the history of the event.
The doctors said no
Setback, and it changed everything. Told by doctors, at the Olympic Games, not to run.
Silver in the 5000
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Ill, and second in the world.
He jogged to the final
Milestone, and it changed everything. Stuck in a traffic jam, so he ran to the stadium, and then won the final by twenty metres.
The 1970s
Steeplechase gold in Munich
Milestone, and it changed everything. A second Olympic gold, in an event with barriers and water in it that he had hardly run.
A home for orphans
Milestone, and it changed everything. He had been an orphan. He built the place he had not had.
The 1980s
Sportsman of the year
Milestone. Fourteen years after he stopped racing, for what he did afterwards.
The 2000s
An IOC honorary member
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Inside the committee, rather than in front of it.
The 2010s
The first Olympic Laurel
Milestone, and it changed everything. A new award, created for exactly this, and he was the first person to get it.
The home in Eldoret is still full of children, and so is the school. What it has set moving is partly a country that now expects to win those races, and partly a children's home at Eldoret full of orphans raised the way he was.
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Kip Keino: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Kip Keino's life come from?
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Sources
- Kipchoge Keino, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Kip Keino.
- International Olympic Committee results, Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972.