Daniel Komen
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson
Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born 17 May 1976)<ref name="Competitor 05.2011">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Komen is rumoured to be three years older than officially recognised.</ref> is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, his most notable achievements came in a two-year period between 1996 and 1998, during which he broke a string of world records.<ref name="Competitor 05.2011"/>
Komen held the world record in the 3000 metres for nearly 28 years, with a time of 7:20.67 set in 1996. Komen also held the world best in the two mile run for nearly 26 years. With his time of 7:58.61 set in 1997, he, along with Jakob Ingebrigtsen, are the only two men in history to average two miles at a sub-four-minute mile pace. Komen's splits were 3:59.4 on both the first and second half of the race.<ref name="Competitor 05.2011"/> He is also the Kenyan record holder for the 5000 metres both outdoors and indoors.
Komen was the second man, after Saïd Aouita, to break the 3Template:Frac-minute mark for the 1500 m, the 7Template:Frac-minute mark for 3000 m, and the 13-minute mark for the 5000 m.Template:Citation needed
Early lifeEdit
Komen was born in Elgeyo Marakwet District. He is from the Keiyo sub-tribe of Kalenjin people and grew up in a rural area of Kenya's Rift Valley Province.<ref name="Competitor 05.2011"/> One of fourteen children,<ref name="Tanser2001_186">Tanser (2001), p. 186.</ref> Komen began running at the age of seven as a means of getting to and from school.<ref name="Competitor 05.2011"/> His running abilities were discovered and at the age of 14 he travelled to Australia. Komen had an exceptional junior career: at age 17, he placed second at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, and in 1994, he became the World Junior Champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
CareerEdit
Komen first appeared in the senior ranks in 1994 when he won a place on Kenya's 10,000 m team for the 1994 Commonwealth Games, placing ninth. The next year, at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, Komen set the world junior record in the 5,000m with a time of 12:56.15, helping pace Moses Kiptanui to a world record in the process.<ref name="Tanser2001_185b">Tanser (2001), p. 185.</ref>
In 1996, Komen began to dominate the 5,000 m.<ref name="Tanser2001_185b"/> On 1 September 1996 in Rieti, Italy, Komen ran a spectacular world record time of 7:20.67 in the 3000 metres, breaking Noureddine Morceli's former record by 4.44 seconds. Komen's record stood untouched for nearly 28 years, with Hicham El Guerrouj's 1999 time of 7:23.09 being over two seconds behind Komen. Jakob Ingebrigtsen would break the record on 25 August 2024, clocking 7:17.55 to become the first man under 7:20.
A year later, on 19 July 1997, Komen made history again. In Hechtel, Belgium, he became the first man to run two miles in under eight minutes, clocking a world best of 7:58.61.<ref name = "Michalik data">See here for Komen's lap splits: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His first mile was faster than Roger Bannister's first-ever sub-four, while his second equalled it.<ref name = "Michalik data"/> Just seven months later, at an Australian athletics meet in Sydney, Komen ran 7:58.91, missing his world best by 0.30 seconds. This performance makes Komen the only man in history to break 8 minutes in the two mile more than once. His 7:58.61 world best in the two mile stood for nearly 26 years, until 9 June 2023 when Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran 7:54.10.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In August 1997 he broke the 5000 m world record and took two seconds off of Haile Gebrselassie's best to bring it to 12:39.74.
Only twelve days after the previous world record of 7:26.15 was set by Haile Gebrselassie, Komen broke the indoor 3,000-metre record with a time of 7:24.90, set in Budapest on 6 February 1998. This mark was referred to as "Mount Everest"<ref name="IAAF 29.01.2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} See paragraph 12 of the article.</ref> in athletics circles and had been bettered only twice outdoors, one of them being Komen's own world record. Kenenisa Bekele believed that breaking Komen's record was only "possible on a special day if the pace is good and if everything else also is perfect."<ref name="IAAF 20.02.2007">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This mark, having stood for more than 25 years, was bettered on February 15, 2023 by Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma with a time of 7:23.81 in the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Lievin. Spain's Mohamed Katir also went under Komen's previous record with a time of 7:24.68.
Other accolades include being the 1997 World Championships in Athletics and 1998 Commonwealth Games 5,000-meter champion. He won the 5000 metres race at the 1998 IAAF World Cup.<ref>gbrathletics.com: IAAF WORLD CUP IN ATHLETICS</ref>
Out of the limelight since the late 1990s, Komen now serves as chairman of the Keiyo North Rift Athletics Association and as co-director of a private school with his wife, Joyce.<ref name="Competitor 05.2011"/>
AchievementsEdit
Personal bestsEdit
Daniel Komen's personal bests, and their place on the world ranking of all times, unless otherwise noted. All times and placings are taken from Komen's World Athletics bio (Template:As of).
| Distance | Time | All-Time Rank | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1500 metres | 3:29.46 | 31st | 16 August 1997 | Monaco |
| Mile | 3:46.38 | 8th | 26 August 1997 | Berlin |
| 2000 metres | 4:51.30 | 17th | 5 June 1998 | Milano |
| 3000 metres | 7:20.67 | 2nd, AR, NR | 1 September 1996 | Rieti |
| 3000 metres indoor | 7:24.90 | 3rd | 6 February 1998 | Budapest |
| Two miles | 7:58.61 | 2nd | 19 July 1997<ref>World Records and Best Performances</ref> | Hechtel |
| 5000 metres | 12:39.74 | 6th, Template:AthAbbr | 22 August 1997 | Brussels |
| 5000 metres indoor | 12:51.48 | 3rd, Template:AthAbbr | 19 February 1998 | Stockholm |
| 10,000 metres | 27:38.32 | 479th* | 30 August 2002 | Brussels |
International competitionsEdit
| 1994 | World Cross Country Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | U20 race | 24:17 |
| 1st | U20 team | 18 pts | |||
| African Junior Championships | Algiers, Algeria | 1st | 5000 m | 13:31.10 | |
| World Junior Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 1st | 5000 m | 13:45.37 | |
| 1st | 10,000 m | 28:29.74 | |||
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 1st | 5000 m | 13:07.38 |
| 1998 | World Cross Country Championships | Marrakesh, Morocco | 2nd | Short race | 10:46 |
| 1st | Short race team | 10 pts | |||
| African Championships | Dakar, Senegal | 1st | 5000 m | 13:35.70 | |
| World Cup | Johannesburg, South Africa | 1st | 5000 m | 13:46.57 | |
| Commonwealth Games | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1st | 5000 m | 13:22.57 |
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:World Athletics
- Kimbia Athletics profile (archive.org)
- Highlight footage of his 7:58.61 record for 2 miles
- Video recording of Komen's outdoor 3,000m record
- A biographical article "What Ever Happened to Daniel Komen?" that includes much race information from Komen's career Template:Webarchive
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