Here is everything you need to know about Ezekiel Kemboi’s more than 10 years of complete steeplechase dominance.
Ezekiel Kemboi will go down as one of the greatest 3000m steeplechase champions after dominating the water and barrier event for 11 good years.
The 42-year-old made the distance his own from 2004 to 2015, winning the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and the Olympics. Pulse Sports brings you everything regarding Ezekiel Kemboi’s hot streak.
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Ezekiel Kemboi, Olympics King
Ezekiel Kemboi: Impact on Sponsorships and Career. Image source: Imago
It is in 2004 when Ezekiel Kemboi rose to the main favorite status at the Athens Olympic Games. The race went very much according to form, with the three Kenyans Kemboi, Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech pushing the pace from the second lap and soon leaving the rest of the field behind and Kemboi winning a gold medal 0.3 seconds ahead of Kipruto in a Kenyan sweep.
Four years later, Kemboi represented Kenya at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but managed only seventh- his worst performance on the global stage. Although his performance was surprising, Kemboi always bounced back after a setback and London Olympics in 2012 was the perfect platform.
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In the united kingdom, Kemboi won the gold for Kenya in eight minutes 18.56 seconds. His last Olympic appearance in 2016, Rio, only resulted into a bronze medal.
Ezekiel Kemboi, Word Championships speedster
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Ezekiel Kemboi reacts after a past race. Image source: Imago
His journey at the biennial championships was marked by consistency and resilience never witnessed before. At the 2003 World Championships, Kemboi had a grueling battle with former teammate Saif Saeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono) who represented his new country Qatar, before Shaheen pulled away from the exhausted Kemboi to win by less than a second.
In August 2005 he won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships, again behind Shaheen and made it a hat trick of silver at the 2007 World Championships, this time losing to Kipruto.
He rebounded with a win at the 2009 version of the event, securing his first gold medal after three successive silvers. This marked the start of Ezekiel Kemboi’s dominance.
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He won the gold medal at the 2011 edition in Daegu, South Korea before he added a third title two years later. He won his fourth consecutive gold at the 2015 edition, which was also his seventh world medal, setting a record for any athlete, which would subsequently be surpassed by Chinese shot putter Gong Lijao in 2023.
Ezekiel Kemboi, hidden stats
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Ezekiel Kemboi. Image source: Imago
His 3000m best of 7:55.76 set at Monaco in 2011 places him as the seventh fastest of all time. This time is also the fastest non-winning time in history.
Kemboi is one of only five men to have won both Olympic and World golds in the event, along with Reuben Kosgei, Brimin Kipruto, Conseslus Kipruto and Soufiane El Bakkali. He and El Bakkali are the only multiple gold medalists in both.
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He is the only athlete to have won four world championships in the steeplechase (which he won consecutively). Kemboi is one of only three athletes to have won two Olympic titles in the event; the other two being Volmari Iso-Hollo and Soufiane El Bakkali.
With his titles and unmatched stats placing him too in the specialty, Kemboi is a true worrier of Kenya’s steeplechase. Kenya has struggled to reclaim it’s place in steeplechase.
