Augustine Choge

For Augustine Choge, the path to success as a world class distance runner is one well traveled by those before him. Having spent his youth running eight kilometers (five miles) to and from school everyday in his youth, Choge already had plenty of training behind him when he was spotted by famed coach Brother Colm O’Connell and was invited to join his staple of runners at St. Patrick’s High School in Iten, Kenya.

Under Brother O’Connell, Choge’s career as a junior was staggering. In 2003, the sixteen year-old Choge was fourth in the Junior 8km race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Two months later in May, Choge won the 800m, 1500m and 3000m at the East African Youth Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Later that summer, Choge won his first global title, capturing gold over 3000m at the IAAF World Youth Championships.

In 2004, Choge won the 5000m at the IAAF World Junior Championships and claimed impressive victories over 3000m in Rieti, and over 5000m in Berlin. The next year, Choge won Kenya’s only individual gold medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, leading a Kenyan sweep of the junior race. That summer, Choge broke the 3000m world junior record, and claimed victories at the All-African Championships over 1500m, and in the 5000m at the FBK Games in Hengelo, The Netherlands.

Despite starting off 2005 so well, the year would end in disappointment for Choge, as he was only entered at the last minute into IAAF World Championships that summer, and failed to advance to the final of the 1500m. Making up for his shortcoming the year before, Choge started 2006 off by winning the gold medal over 5000m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. That summer, Choge would go on to win all but one of his 1500m races, claiming wins in Zurich, Berlin and Shanghai.

Though 2007 started off well for Choge, with wins in Doha and Glasgow, a tendon injury ended his outdoor campaign prematurely, and he was unable to complete at the World Championships that year. A redoubtable talent, it’s certain that Choge will be eager to make up for his 2007 disappointment by earning himself a place on the medal stand this summer in Beijing.