Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Kenya Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
Between April and July 1978 he broke the world record in the 5,000 metres, the 3,000 metres steeplechase, the 10,000 metres and the 3,000 metres — four records in four different events in eighty-one days. Nobody has done anything like it before or since.
Henry Rono grew up in Kiptaragon in the Rift Valley and went to Washington State University on a scholarship.
In 1978, over eighty-one days, he broke four world records: the 5,000 metres in Berkeley in April, the 3,000 metres steeplechase in Seattle in May, the 10,000 metres in Vienna in June, and the 3,000 metres in Oslo in July. They were four different events with four different demands, and the margins were not small — his steeplechase record stood for eleven years. He was named athlete of the year and won two Commonwealth golds.
He never ran at an Olympic Games. Kenya joined the African boycott of Montreal in 1976, and boycotted Moscow in 1980 over Afghanistan, which removed both of the games he would have been favourite at. He has said plainly that it broke something in him.
He drank heavily for years afterwards, was homeless for a period in the United States, recovered, and worked as a special-needs teacher in Albuquerque before returning to Kenya. He died in 2024.
In 1978, over eighty-one days, he broke four world records: the 5,000 metres in Berkeley in April, the 3,000 metres steeplechase in Seattle in May, the 10,000 metres in Vienna in June, and the 3,000 metres in Oslo in July. They were four different events with four different demands, and the margins were not small — his steeplechase record stood for eleven years. He was named athlete of the year and won two Commonwealth golds.
He never ran at an Olympic Games. Kenya joined the African boycott of Montreal in 1976, and boycotted Moscow in 1980 over Afghanistan, which removed both of the games he would have been favourite at. He has said plainly that it broke something in him.
He drank heavily for years afterwards, was homeless for a period in the United States, recovered, and worked as a special-needs teacher in Albuquerque before returning to Kenya. He died in 2024.
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