Paul Ereng (KEN) wins Seoul Olympic 800m - 1988 (© Getty Images)
Kenya's Paul Ereng, 1988 Olympic champion at 800m in Seoul and twice World Indoor champion (1989 and 1991), is now making an equally formidable name off the track, as a coach, and has established his own athletics squad: ‘Eldoret Track and Field’.
26 September 1988 was the day of the Olympic 800m final in Seoul. Memorably, Ereng came with a long run for home from seventh position and overtook the whole field to unexpectedly claim the Olympic laurels.
Unexpectedly? Well, Ereng had never raced at 800m before 1988, and yet he ended the season with a brilliant Olympic victory. After a successful US campaign capped by the NCAA title, he came to Europe, where he only won once in seven races. He was even lucky to make the Kenyan team (in third place), holding off Sammy Koskei by inches in the trials to capture the final berth.
Yet in Seoul, after a packed season with already 22 races at 800m under his belt, he was the strongest of them all: he won his heat, was second in the second round and first again in the semi-final.
Ereng was one of the outstanding athletes on the circuit, even if he was at the top only for a few years, from 1988 until 1991. The way he ran his races will forever be unforgettable. At the time they called him ‘proud’ or even ‘arrogant’, because he preferred to stay at the back in races and then in the last 200 metres or so he would shift his tall, 186 cm frame into another gear and pass the field in dramatic style. His finish was incredible.
1995 was his last international season. He tried a comeback four years later, but his body was not ready anymore. But the man who said “when things change you have to go back to the drawing board“ quickly found a new challenge. Runner Ereng turned into farmer Ereng. But not just into any simple farmer. He started with growing seed maize and worked 150 acres. Ereng has never done things by halves.
It was in February 2000, that Ereng was offered a path back into athletics, via the job of technical director for the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Eldoret, the ‘capital city of running’. Eldoret is the home of Kip Keino, Yobes Ondieki, Ibrahim Hussein, Paul Ereng, Patrick Sang, Bernard Barmasai, Moses Tanui, Moses Kiptanui, Daniel Komen, Josephat Kiprono, Japhet Kimutai, Reuben Kosgei and many more. By his appointment Ereng succeeded two other illustrious personalities: Mike Kosgei (national coach) and Peter Rono (1500m Olympic champion in Seoul).
Paul Ereng accepted the offer with a lot of joy.
”Athletics is something I like doing. I got a chance to work with young people and give them something that I enjoyed myself. And maybe make them become a champion, an Olympic champion like me myself.“
Indeed in the first years he has already produced some real talents. He has trained Ezekiel Kemboi (African Junior 3000m steeplechase gold - 2001) and Janeth Jepkosgei (Women’s World Junior 800m gold - 2002).
Now Ereng is reaching out for another challenge.
These days the father of three, has established his own athletics team called ‘Eldoret Track and Field’. His best known athlete so far is Ben Maiyo (5000m this year in 13:02.95). All in all, there are seven runners in his squad. In the athlete‘s house there is space for more, but the support from outside – Nike is assisting them – does not allow him to do more at the moment but even with a slow development, the future looks promising. The Kenyans say ‘pole, pole’, which means, ‘slowly, slowly’, and as we have already witnessed on the track, Paul Ereng prefers coming from behind!
By the way, in the meantime Ereng’s farm has shrunk from 150 to 65 acres, and now they plant ‘ordinary maize’. As the 35-year-old Ereng says, “a man rearranges his priorities as life continues,” and Athletics is once more the main focus for Ereng.
Jürg Wirz for the IAAF
