View source for Richard Chelimo

{{short description|Kenyan long-distance runner}}
{{MedalTableTop|sport=Men's [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]]|country_code=KEN|medals=
{{Medal|Competition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{Medal|Silver| [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres|10,000 m]]}} 
{{Medal|Competition|[[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics|1991 Tokyo]]|[[1991 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 10,000 metres|10,000 m]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics|1993 Stuttgart]]|[[1993 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 10,000 metres|10,000 m]]}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics|1990 Plovdiv]]| 10,000 m}}
}}

'''Richard Chelimo''' (21 April 1972 – 15 August 2001) was a Kenyan [[long-distance runner]], and a [[List of world records in athletics|world record]] holder over [[10,000 metres]].  However, he is best known as the silver medallist in the controversial 10,000m at the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Olympics]] in [[Barcelona]]. He was also a [[List of world junior records in athletics|world junior record]] holder in the 10,000m.

==Family and tribe==

Chelimo, who was born in the [[Marakwet District|Marakwet]] region of Kenya, was a member of the [[Kalenjin people|Kalenjin]] tribe (known by some as the "running tribe"). He came from a noted athletic family, even amongst the tribesmen, his cousin, [[Moses Kiptanui]], was a three-time [[steeplechase (athletics)|steeplechase]] [[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World champion]], whilst his brother, [[Ismael Kirui]], was twice World champion over 5000 m. Richard Chelimo was married to '''Monica Chelimo''' and were blessed with 5 children.

==Athletics career==

Chelimo's first international success was in the junior section of the 1990 world [[cross country running|cross country]] championship in [[Aix-les-Bains]], [[France]], where he took silver.  Though Chelimo received little attention due to the Kenyan domination of the event, their team won 10 successive junior titles.

However, it was not long before the athletic community took notice of Chelimo's talent.  Later that year he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the world junior championships in [[Plovdiv]], [[Bulgaria]].  Chelimo won the race by 12 seconds from his own brother, Kirui, who was only 15 at the time.

Chelimo was selected in the Kenyan senior squad for the 10,000 m at the [[1991 World Championships in Athletics|1991 world championships]], which took place in [[Tokyo]].  As Kenya's second runner he was assigned the task of being [[pacemaker (track)|pacemaker]] to [[Moses Tanui]].  He was successful in dragging Tanui clear of his main rival, [[Morocco]]'s [[Khalid Skah]], and on the final lap he allowed Tanui to sprint clear to take the gold medal.<ref name="gaurdian">"[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/aug/29/guardianobituaries.athletics ''Richard Chelimo:Athlete who narrowly missed out on Olympic gold'', by Pete Nichols, Wednesday 29 August 2001]</ref>

The following year, at the Olympics, Chelimo met Skah again.  With three laps remaining in the 10,000 m final the two athletes were clear and battling for the gold medal.  At this point the pair came to lap another Moroccan athlete, [[Hammou Boutayeb]], who stayed with the leaders even after being lapped.  The rules state that a lapped runner cannot "assist" another runner but, although Boutayeb's actions were interpreted as unsportsmanlike by the crowd, it was not certain that there was any collusion, that Skah gained any advantage or that Chelimo was disadvantaged. Regardless, these events incensed the [[Spain|Spanish]] crowd, and the [[Sweden|Swedish]] track judge [[Carl-Gustav Tollemar]] attempted to interfere with Boutayeb's run.

During the final 150 m Skah sprinted away from Chelimo to win the race, and was temporarily disqualified, making Chelimo the temporary Olympic champion.  However, the Moroccans appealed against the disqualification and Skah was reinstated the next morning because the rule under which he was disqualified did not define a penalty.

In 1993 Chelimo broke the world junior and senior [[10,000 metres world record progression|10,000 m world record]], in a time of 27:07.91 minutes, in [[Stockholm]].  He was to hold the senior world record for only five days before it was broken again by his compatriot [[Yobes Ondieki]].  He held the junior record for over 11 years before it was broken by [[Uganda]]n [[Boniface Kiprop Toroitich]] at a [[IAAF Golden League|Golden League]] meeting on 3 September 2004, in a time of 27 min 04.00 s.

At the [[1993 World Championships in Athletics|1993 world championships]] in [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]], Chelimo once again failed to win gold at a major championships.  He managed only third place as he could not match the pace of Tanui and, a new star from [[Ethiopia]], [[Haile Gebrselassie]].  This was another controversial race as Tanui lost a shoe after Gebreselassie stepped on his heel; the Ethiopian went on to win the race.

==Life after athletics==

Chelimo retired from athletics in 1996; according to his cousin, Kiptanui, he retired after growing despondent following his failure to rise to the very top of the sport.  He returned to his old job in the army and put on a lot of weight and began to drink excessively &mdash; a decline quite similar to that of [[Henry Rono]].  However, his friends Tanui and [[William Mutwol]] encouraged him to return to training and get back into shape.  Chelimo eventually got back down to within 5&nbsp;kg of his racing weight.  He died of a [[brain tumour]] at the age of 29.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallechinsky|first1=David|authorlink1=David Wallechinsky|last2=Loucky|first2=Jaime|year=2012|title=The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition|page=135|location=[[London]]|publisher=[[Aurum Press]]|isbn=978-1-84513-695-6}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of notable brain tumor patients]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

*{{World Athletics}}
*{{tilastopaja|id=37028}}
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/17/sports/richard-chelimo-olympian-34.html?pagewanted=1 New York Times Obituary]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175131/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ch/richard-chelimo-1.html Sports Reference]

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{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=[[Arturo Barrios]] |
title=[[10,000 metres world record progression|Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder]]|
years=July 5, 1993 – July 10, 1993 |after=[[Yobes Ondieki]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer World Junior Champions men's 10,000 metres}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelimo, Richard}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County]]
[[Category:Kenyan men long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Kenyan men steeplechase runners]]
[[Category:Kenyan men cross country runners]]
[[Category:Olympic men long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Kenya]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Kenya]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Kenya]]
[[Category:20th-century Kenyan sportsmen]]