Former Kenyan athlete Henry Rono, who held four world records at the same time, has died at the age of 72, the Kenyan Athletics Federation announced this Thursday, without disclosing the cause.
The federation body said only that Rono, who broke four world records in 81 days in 1978 in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters and the 3,000-meter hurdles, was hospitalized for 10 days.
“He was one of the best distance runners Kenya has produced,” Kipchoge Keino, a two-time Olympic champion and former president of the Kenyan Olympic Committee, told AFP, arguing that if Rono had competed in the 1980 Moscow Games, which were boycotted by several African countries : “I could easily win at least two gold medals.”
The former athlete, who was studying in Washington when he broke four world records in succession, had been living in the US for years, returning to Kenya in 2019 after a government request for financial assistance was approved.
The news comes four days after the death of compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder with a time of 02:00.35 hours and who was a leading candidate who ran under two hours at the age of 24, in a road accident on Sunday. .
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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