Matthew Birir

Matthew Kiprotich Birir ( born July 2, 1972 in Eldama Ravine ) is a former Kenyan steeplechaser and Olympic champion.

He began serious running training when he attended St. Patrick's High School in Iten, which has already spawned numerous famous Kenyan athletes.

Patrick Sang was at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona is the favorite for the 3000 meters steeplechase. But on the last lap of the final race on sprinted Birir his countryman and won by a margin of 0.69 seconds, the gold medal.

At the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart in 1993 Birir was expelled from Italian Alessandro Lambruschini to fourth place. Exactly the same thing happened three years later at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, when Birir had to settle for fourth place again.