John Kibet Koech
Koech at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Born23 August 1995 (1995-08-23) (age 28)
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 m, 5000 m, steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1500 m – 3:44.7 (2013)
3000 mS – 8:09.62 (2016)
5000 m – 13:31.76 (2016)[2]
Medal record
Representing  Bahrain
Asian Athletics Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 Wuhan3000 m s'chase

John Kibet Koech (born 23 August 1995) is a Kenyan-born long-distance runner who competes internationally for Bahrain. He specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase and was the winner of the event at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships. His elder brother Isiah is an Olympic long-distance runner.[3]

Koech first began competing at national level in the steeplechase in 2012, running at the national junior championships. He also acted as pacemaker at the Herculis meeting that year.[2] The following year he won at the Kenyan Athletics Championships, but placed tenth at the national trial event for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. His best performance of the year was a personal best of 8:16.96 minutes at the DN Galan, where he placed sixth – this time ranked him twentieth in the world for the event that season.[4]

Koech switched his international eligibility to Bahrain in September 2013. In the 2014 season he competed extensively on the track and field circuit. He was runner-up to Jacob Araptany at the Golden Grand Prix in Japan,[5] then had a season's best of 8:19.99 minutes in Bydgoszcz, which ultimately placed him in the top-25 in the year's world lists, as well as second in the world junior category lists.[6][7] On the 2014 IAAF Diamond League circuit he was tenth at the Athletissima meeting and 13th at the Herculis meeting.[8] As the second highest ranked Asian runner, after Abubaker Ali Kamal of Qatar (another Kenyan emigrant), he was selected to represent the region at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup, where he placed fifth.[2]

At the 2015 Arab Athletics Championships, held in Bahrain, he missed out on a steeplechase medal behind African opposition, taking fourth.[9] A month later at the IAAF World Challenge Beijing he gave a stronger performance with a personal best of 8:14.75 minutes for third place.[10] His first major title followed shortly after at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships where he was the steeplechase gold medallist, succeeding his compatriot and fellow former Kenyan Tareq Mubarak Taher.[11]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2014 IAAF Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 5th 3000 m s'chase 8:28.96
2015 Arab Championships Isa Town, Bahrain 4th 3000 m s'chase 8:31.35
Asian Championships Wuhan, China 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:27.03
World Championships Beijing, China 15th (h) 3000 m s'chase 8:38.62
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 18th (h) 3000 m s'chase 8:28.81
2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Baku, Azerbaijan 4th 3000 m s'chase 8:34.27
2018 West Asian Championships Amman, Jordan 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:46.60
Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia 4th 3000 m s'chase 8:32.72
2019 Arab Championships Cairo, Egypt 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:30.75
Asian Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 3000 m s'chase 8:25.87
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan – 3000 m s'chase DNF
2022 Islamic Solidarity Games Konya, Turkey 4th 3000 m s'chase 9:19:64
2023 Arab Games Oran, Algeria 6th 3000 m s'chase 8:53.94
Asian Games Hangzhou, China 10th 3000 m s'chase 9:03.75

References

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  1. ↑ John Kibet Koech Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  2. 1 2 3 John Kibet Koech at World Athletics
  3. ↑ John Kibet Koech. nbcolympics.com
  4. ↑ 3000 Metres Steeplechase – men – senior – outdoor – 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Back-to-back wins for Gatlin. The Hindu (12 May 2014). Retrieved on 2015-06-06.
  6. ↑ 3000 Metres Steeplechase – men – senior – outdoor – 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 June 2015.
  7. ↑ 3000 Metres Steeplechase – men – junior – outdoor – 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Athletics – John Kibet KOECH. The Sports. Retrieved on 6 June 2015.
  9. ↑ ALGÉRIE AU 19 EME. CHAMPIONNAT PANARABES D’ATHLÉTISME BAHREÏN / MANAMA 24 – 27/04/2015 Archived 6 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Algeria Athletics Stats. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  10. ↑ Ayodi, Ayumba (20 May 2015). Kipketer, Ndiku reign supreme in Beijing. The Daily Nation. Retrieved on 2015-06-06.
  11. ↑ Vikas Gowda, Lalita Win Gold at Asian Athletics Championships. NDTV Sports (6 May 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-06.
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