Daniel Komen

Daniel Komen ( Komen Daniel Kipngetich; born May 17, 1976 in gulls in Marakwet ) is a Kenyan middle and long distance runner by winning the title over 5000 meters at the World Athletics Championships in 1997 celebrated his biggest success in Athens.

Komen belongs together with Saïd Aouita, Ali Saïdi - Sief and Hicham El Guerrouj to the exclusive club of runners who ran 1500 meters under 3:30 minutes, 3000 meters under 7:30 minutes and 5000 meters under 13:00 minutes. In the English -speaking world, where the miles distance still has an outstanding status in the running area, he earned with his world record over two miles ( 3218 meters) of 7:58,61 min special fame as the first and only man who two four-minute miles behind the other ran.

Komen is not related to the 1984 -born middle and long distance runner Daniel Komen Kipchirchir who is successful at international competitions since 2004. His brother is Samson Kiplangat Ngetich.

Career

In 1994 he won silver in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships, was Junior Champion Africa over 5000 meters and junior world champion in 5000 and 10,000 meters. At the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, he came in the 10,000 meters at the ninth.

His first major appearance in the adult population had Komen at the Golden Gala on 8 June 1995 in Rome. In a thrilling 5000 - meter race he drove his coach and mentor Kiptanui to a world record and set itself a junior world record of 12:56,15 min.

In 1996, Komen for a failure, for he was at the Kenyan Olympic qualifying heats in fourth place and was not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. So he focused on the Grand Prix and started an impressive success in the post-Olympic race. When world-class meeting in Zurich on August 14, he referred to the applicable as nearly unbeatable Haile Gebrselassie seven seconds ahead of second place and failed in 12:45,09 min only slightly at the world record. But the highlight of the season was the 3000 - meter race on September 1 in Rieti. In 7:20,67 min powdered Komen the world record of Noureddine Morceli and put a mark at which despite several attempts also Gebrselassie and Hicham El Guerrouj outcrop teeth.

Began in 1997 for Komen with silver in short- track the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. An unprecedented world record hunting marked the subsequent track season. Almost every Grand Prix racing festival had a serious record attempt in the program, and Komen was involved on routes of 3,000 to 5,000 meters at the most. But the first peak yielded Gebrselassie with a two-mile world record on May 31 in Hengelo. This took him Komen shortly before the World Championships on July 19 in Hechtel again and was the very first person in 7:58,61 min under eight minutes. At the World Championships in Athens Komen celebrated a comfortable win over 5000 meters. To hoped duel with Gebrselassie did not happen, because this occurred only in the 10,000 meters and won over this distance. The record hunt continued after the World Championships. Gebrselassie presented with an increase of his own record on 12:41,76 min on August 13 in Zurich and proposed Komen significantly. His answer was but just nine days coming: On September 22, he ran at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels 12:39,74 min.

The year 1998 opened with Komen world records in the hall. While 12:51,48 min over 5000 meters have now been improved by Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, the mark of 7:24,90 min over 3000 meters still has inventory. Even outdoors only Komen itself and Hicham El Guerrouj were faster. The 5000 -meter indoor world record was last Komen's record. Shortly after the indoor season, he ran in February once again close to his two-mile world record approach. In the remainder of the season was followed by victories over 5000 meters at the Athletics - Africa Championships, the IAAF World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

1999 (5000 meters) and 2000 (3000 meters), he was third in the annual global leaderboard, but the high competition density in the years 1996 to 1998 ( sometimes with several races in one week ) and the incredible training intensities Komen took their toll: in his former role as the only serious competitor Gebrselassie next to Paul Tergat he could no longer cope. At the world championships 1999 he finished fifth over 5000 meters, and the following year he was missing because of a malaria disease in the qualifying heats for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. While Gebrselassie further won international medals to Komen's slow descent manifested in the annual global leaderboard rankings 11 and 17 in the years 2001 and 2002. Since he played no competitions more on an international level, and also a planned comeback as a marathon runner with Dieter Hogen as coach did not materialize.

Personal best

• Hall: 12:51,48 min, February 19, 1998, Stockholm