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Isaac Kimeli
Kenyan-Belgian middle-distance runner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Isaac Kimeli (born 9 March 1994[4] in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya) is a Kenyan born Belgian middle- and long-distance runner.
Kimeli is a 5000m silver medal winner at the World Athletics Championships.[5]
Kimeli won two Diamond League meetings, securing victory in the 5000 m at the 2019 Memorial Van Damme in Brussels (promotional event) with a then personal best of 13:13.02 [4] and six years later at the very rainy 2025 Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland also in the 5000m.[6]
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Training and personal life
When Kimeli was four years old, his mother migrated from their home county of Uasin Gishu in Kenya to Belgium to work as a nurse. Kimeli was left in the care of his grand-parents for ten years. At age 15 he was finally reunited with his mother in Belgium. It was there that his PE teachers encouraged him to join a track club.[7]
Career
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In 2011, Kimeli competed in his first international competition at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Trabzon, Turkey.[7]
Two years later, Kimeli won his first international medal by winning a silver at the junior 2013 European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.[8] This was soon followed by a gold medal at the Under-23 2016 European Cross Country Championships in Chia, Italy,[9] and 2 silver medals (one individual, one team) and a bronze at the senior level 2018,[10] 2019[11] and 2022 European Cross Country Championships[12] resp. He picked up another silver medal with the Belgium men's team at the 2024 European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey.[13]
On the track, Kimeli earned a silver in the 5000 metres at the 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships and in the 3000 metres at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.[14]
Kimeli represented Belgium at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan resp. Paris, France, his best result a 8th place in the final of the men's 5000 metres in Paris.[15]
In September 2025 at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Kimeli became the first Belgian athlete since Gaston Reiff won the gold medal in the men's 5000 metres at the 1948 Summer Olympics to win a medal in a 5000m or 10000m event at a senior world athletics championship or Olympic Games.[5]
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Achievements
Competition record
National titles
- Belgian Athletics Championships
- 1500 metres: 2014
- Belgian Indoor Athletics Championships
- 3000 metres: 2022
- Belgian Cross Country Championships
- 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2023, 2024
Personal bests
- 1500 metres – 3:36.51 (Marseille 2018)
- 3000 metres – 7:47.48 (Rome 2020)
- 3000 metres indoor – 7:44.17 (Ghent 2021)
- 5000 metres – 12:56.53 (Stockholm 2024)
- 10,000 metres – 27:07.97 (San Juan Capistrano 2024)
- Road
- 10 kilometres – 27:10 (Valencia 2025)
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References
External links
Wikiwand - on
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