From Grace to Grass: Sad Story of First Kenyan Olympic Games 3000m Steeplechase Winner.
26th April 2024
Amos Biwott was the first Kenyan runner to win a 3000m steeplechase Olympic Games title.
- Amos Biwott worked as a watchman at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani.
- He won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games.
- Biwott introduced the technique of clearing hurdles.
Kenya is one of the East African countries that is known worldwide for producing talented runners both in the middle- and long-distance races.
Over the decades, athletes from the famous country have broken numerous world records, won several Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships titles as well as entered their names into history books.
Among them is Amos Kiptabok Biwott, the track and field legend, who started Kenya’s dominance in the 3000m steeplechase discipline.
Despite his huge contribution to the nation’s sporting industry, very little is known about the man who pioneered Africa’s dominance in long distance running.
Sportpesa News looks at how Biwott fell from grace to grass and why he is considered one of the best steeplechase runners in Kenya’s history.
Historic Olympic Games gold medal
Biwott, who was born in Nandi County in 1947, rose to fame in the 1968 Olympic Games which was held at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico, when he won Kenya’s first ever Olympic Games 3000m steeplechase title.
He did so in a spectacular fashion, clocking 8:51.02 to beat the likes of his compatriot Benjamin Kogo and United States’ representative George Young to the coveted title.
Kogo and Young crossed the finishing line in 8:51.56 and 8:51.86 to settle for second and third place respectively.
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Introduction of new technique
However, besides clinching a gold medal for Kenya, Biwott made history as the first man to clear the hurdle without placing a foot on the barrier.
The unique technique, which was later adopted by other runners, enabled Biwott to reduce the clearance time and gave him an advantage over other competitors.
In fact, during the Mexico Olympic Games, he was the only one who crossed the finishing line without his feet being in contact with water.
Sadly, after his triumph in the South American nation, Biwott’s career went downward. He secured a third position in the 1970 Commonwealth Games before registering a sixth-place finish at the 1972 Olympic Games which was hosted by Germany.
Biwott donned the Kenyan jersey for the last time in the 1974 Commonwealth Games, where he finished a distant eighth, in a race which was won by his fellow countryman Ben Jipcho.
After hanging his running sneakers, he worked for the Kenya Prison Service until 1978 when the unfortunate thing happened. Biwott was arrested and prosecuted for theft.
Fall from grace to grass
The legendary runner hit rock bottom after clearing his name when he had no option but to work as a watchman in a stadium to place food on the table.
In a recent interview, Biwott, who was among the legends who graced the 2018 World Athletics U18 Championships in Nairobi, divulged that he had a good relationship with the former Kenyan President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi.
He revealed that Moi liked him because of the contributions he made to Kenya’s athletics industry.
“I met Moi when I was working at Kasarani as a security officer, and he used to invite me to State House whenever he met delegations traveling for various assignments.
He was happy to know that I was among the first pioneers in athletics and would always want to associate me with athletes visiting him,” Biwott was quoted by Nation.
The history maker currently lives in Mlango, a little-known village located in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.