orig. Hezekiah Kipchoge Keino
born Jan. 17, 1940, Nandi Hills, Kenya
Kenyan distance runner.
He was originally a goatherd and trained for distance running in the hill country. At the high-altitude 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he won a silver medal in the 5,000-m race and, in one of running's greatest upsets, a gold medal in the 1,500-m race, beating Jim Ryun of the U.S. At the 1972 Olympics, Keino won a silver medal in the 1,500-m and a gold in the 3,000-m steeplechase.