Bernard Lagat

Nickname

Kip. (wsucougars.ocsn.com, 2011)

Hobbies

Cars. (Autoweek.com, 07 Jun 2008)

Occupation

Athlete

Education

Management Information Systems, Econometrics - Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

Family

Wife Gladys Tom, son Miika Kimutai and daughter Gianna.

Coach

James Li (USA) from 1996 (usatf.org, 2011)

Other sports

His sister, Mary Chepkemboi, was also a runner and African champion in 1984. (usatf.org, 2011)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
He concentrated on his studies as a youth, not taking running seriously until he began studying at Jomo Kenyatta University. He says he began running competitively when he was 22 years old. (mensracing.com, 14 Dec 2007)

Reason for taking up this sport
He grew up on his family's farm about 1.5 miles from school, and, he would run the distance each morning. This was not for training purposes, however, but because he was afraid of not arriving on time. (usatf.org, 2011)

Hero
Patrick Sang, silver medallist in the 3000m steeplechase race at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. (allafrica.com, 09 Nov 2001)

Most influential person in career
His sister, Mary Chepkemboi, and fellow distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj. (mensracing.com, 16 Nov 2005)

Awards
In 2007 the mayor of Pullman in the state of Washington declared that the ninth of December was to become Bernard Lagat Day, honouring the achievements of the city's adopted son. (wsucougars.cstv.com, 12 Dec 2007)

At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan he became the first athlete to win both the 1500m and 5000m events at the same world championships. The double put him in the select company of Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj who achieved the same feat at the 1924 and 2004 Olympic Games respectively. He later admitted that El Guerrouj's performance at the 2004 Olympic Games inspired him to try and achieve the double himself. (usatf.org, 2011)

In 1999 he was named NCAA Indoor Male Athlete of the Year and Men's Track & Field Co-Athlete of the Year. (usatf.org, 2011)

He was Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Male Athlete of the Year on three occasions. (usatf.org, 2011)

General
FROM KENYA TO THE UNITED STATES
He left Kenya for the United States in 2004 when he received a scholarship from Washington State University in Pullman. The school was seeking star African runners, hoping to raise the profile of middle-distance and distance-running in the United States, and Lagat was seeking academic advancement, so the partnership had mutual benefits. He became eligible to run for the United States on August 25, 2007. He says that there were no obvious reasons for him abandoning Kenya, rather it was a matter of time and options for the future. "For me it is nothing to do with the [Kenyan] organisation or anyone treating me badly, nothing like that at all. Basically it came down to me living here in the United States for a long time. This is where I want to raise my family. I told them the reasons and after they gave me the OK, I did it." (usatf.org, 2011)

DRUG CONTROVERSY
The initial result of a drug test conducted in Germany in August of 2003 showed an adverse finding for EPO in his A sample. Subsequently he was withdrawn from the Kenyan team for the World Championships. In October it was announced that his B sample did not corroborate the original result and he was able to continue competing. (IAAF, 02 Oct 2003)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000