Augustine Kiprono Choge (born 21 January 1987) is a Kenyan middle distance and long distance runner.
He won world youth and junior titles on the track in 2003 and 2004, eventually going on to set a world junior record for the 3000 metres in 2005. In his final year as a junior he won the World Cross Country Junior title.
He claimed the 5000 metres gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but began to focus more on the 1500 metres from then on. He reached the 1500 m finals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Choge broke the long-standing 4×1500 metres relay world record with a Kenyan team of runners in September 2009.
Career Choge was born in 1987 to a family of small-scale farmers at Kipsigak, near Kapsabet in Nandi District of the Rift Valley Province, Kenya.Manners, John (2005-03-14). Focus on Athletes - Augustine Choge . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
He won the national secondary schools 10,000 metres race in 2002. At the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships he finished fourth in the Junior race and won a gold medal as part of the junior team. He competed at the 2003 East African Youth Championships in May in Addis Ababa and won three gold medals, in 800, 1500 and 3000 metres. At the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics he won the 3000 metres race. He holds the 3000 metres world junior record set in May 2005 in Doha,IAAF World Junior records the previous record (7:30.67) was held by Kenenisa Bekele, set in 2001.IAAF, November 17, 2009: World Records ratified
Choge graduated from Kabikwen Secondary School in 2004. At the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics he won the 5000 metres race. At the 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final he was third in 5000 metres. At the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships he won the junior race and junior team race. At the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final he finished third in 3000 metres.
On 20 March 2006, he won the men's 5000 metres event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a time of 12 minutes, 56.41 seconds. This is the current Commonwealth Games record.
Augustine Choge competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished tenth in the 1500 m final. He came fifth over 1500 m on his debut at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in August. In 2009 he was part of the Kenyan team that set a new the 4 x 1500 metres relay world record, 14:36.23 minutes. Other members of the team were William Biwott Tanui, Gideon Gathimba and Geoffrey Rono. The previous record in this rarely competed event was set by West Germany in 1977, making it the oldest world record when it was broken.IAAF, September 4, 2009: Oldest World record goes down in Brussels as Kenya dominates 4x1500 - ÅF Golden League
He ran the fastest qualifying time in the 3000 m at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but failed to repeat his form in the final and finished in eleventh place.2010 World Indoor Championships - Men's 3000 m final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06. He took his first win of the 2010 IAAF Diamond League in the 1500 m at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix and ended the year as second in the Diamond rankings behind Asbel Kiprop. The start of the 2011 season saw him move up to the fourth fastest runner of all-time over the 3000 m indoors, running a time of 7:28.00 minutes while event winner Yenew Alamirew became the world's third fastest man.Gordon, Ed (2011-02-06). Oliver, Alamirew post scintillating marks in Stuttgart . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
In October 2019, Choge joined the pacemaker team for the Ineos 1:59 Challenge to help fellow Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge run a sub-two hour marathon distance.
Choge is managed by James Templeton and coached by Colm O'Connell.Running the Show Sydney Morning Herald June 16, 2012. Retrieved on 2012-06-23.
Achievements Representing 2003World Cross Country Championships Lausanne, Switzerland 4thJunior race (7.92 km)22:55World Youth Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 1st3000 m7:52.532004World Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 1st5000 m13:28.93World Athletics FinalMonte Carlo, Monaco 3rd5000 m13:09.002005World Cross Country Championships St Etienne, France 1stJunior race (8 km)23:59World Athletics FinalMonte Carlo, Monaco 3rd3000 m7:39.992006World Cross Country Championships Fukuoka, Japan 7thShort race (4 km)11:03 1stTeam21 ptsCommonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 1st5000 m12:56.41World Athletics FinalStuttgart, Germany 3rd1500 m3:33.372008World Cross Country ChampionshipsEdinburgh, Scotland 12thLong race (12 km)35:26Olympic GamesBeijing, China 9th1500 m3:35.502009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany 5th1500 m3:36.53World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 3rd1500 m3:35.46 2010World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar11th3000 m7:53.422012World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey 2nd3000 m7:41.77
Personal bests EventTime VenueDate800 metres1:44.86Ostrava, Czech Republic17 June 20091000 metres (indoor)2:17.79Prague, Czech Republic26 February 20091500 metres3:29.47Berlin, Germany14 June 20091500 metres (indoor)3:33.23Birmingham, England19 February 20112000 metres (indoor)4:56.30Aubière, France9 February 2007One mile3:50.01London, England27 July 20133000 metres7:28.76Doha, Qatar6 May 20113000 metres (indoor)7:28.00Stuttgart, Germany5 February 20115000 metres12:53.66Rome, Italy8 July 200510,000 metres28:22.8Nairobi, Kenya22 April 2016Half marathon59:26Ras Al Khaimah, UAE10 February 2017Marathon2:20:53New York City, USA7 November 2021 All information taken from World Athletics profile.
References
External links
IAAF - Focus on Athletes - Augustine Choge