Wilson Boit Kipketer

Who is Wilson Boit Kipketer?

Wilson Boit Kipketer is a middle and long distance athlete most widely known for running the 3000 m steeplechase. On August 13, 1997, at the Weltklasse Zürich, he set the world record in the steeplechase at 7:59.08, the third of three world records set in a 70 minute period of time. Boit Kipketer's record only stood for 11 days before it was crushed by Bernard Barmasai who took almost 3 and a half seconds off the mark. A week earlier, Boit Kipketer led a Kenyan sweep of the same race in the 1997 World Championships, edging out Barmasai and then world record holder, three-time defending champion Moses Kiptanui. He came back two years later to claim a silver medal in the 1999 World Championships and the following year in the 2000 Olympics.

In 2003, during an immigration clampdown by the Swedish authorities, Boit Kipketer was refused permission to run in Stockholm where the event organisers had lined him up as one of the main attractions, because he did not have the required visa.

He planned to debut in marathon at the Düsseldorf Marathon on May 6, 2007.