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Sports Illustrated 1987 Sportsman of The Year in Track and Field

Kipchoge Kip Keino played rugby before taking up athletics and ran in the 1968 Olympics. Keino’s was Sports Illustrated 1987 Sportsman of The Year.


Kipchoge Kip Keino 1968 Olympics
Kipchoge Kip Keino running in the 1968 Olympic Games.

Sports Illustrated 1987 Sportsman of The Year in Track and Field

Kipchoge Kip Keino was Sports Illustrated 1987 Sportsman of The Year in Track and Field. Kipchoge Kip Keino the first chapter in Kenya’s success story in distance running. Kip Keino born January 17, 1940 in Nandi Hills, Kenya

Keino, played rugby before taking up athletics. Keino’s father, a long-distance runner himself, encouraged his son in the sport. Keino is a four time Olympic winner in 1,500, 5k and steeplechase fields. Keino won a bronze, two silver and gold in 1968. 

At the 1968 Olympics, he competed in six distance races in eight days. Kip Keino beat the favored Jim Ryun in the Olympic in Mexico City by 1,500 meters in 1968 the widest margin of victory in that event in Olympic history.

After finishing his sporting career in 1973, Keino lived on a farm in Western Kenya where he heads a charitable foundation for orphans and became president of the Kenyan Olympic Committee. Sports Illustrated 1987 named him Sportsman of The Year in Track and Field category. 

Keino and his wife took in many orphaned children while having seven of their own. Keino says: “I’m just a simple man with simple dreams that used my God-given talents to help make a difference and create a better future for our children.” 

The Kipkeino foundation endeavors to play a leading role in promoting a solid social culture by contributing to the educational, economic and social needs of the society. “We come into this world with nothing…and depart this world with nothing… it’s what we contribute to the community that is our legacy.” - Kip Keino

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