Chelimo, Richard

▪ 2002

      Kenyan athlete (b. Feb. 24, 1972?, Marakwet region, Kenya—d. Aug. 15, 2001, Eldoret, Kenya), was one of his country's top long-distance runners in the early 1990s, but his many achievements were marred by controversy and disappointment. Chelimo captured the world junior 10,000-m title in 1990. The next year he won a silver medal at that distance at the world championships in Tokyo after having yielded the lead on the last lap to his teammate Moses Tanui. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, Chelimo was awarded the gold medal in the 10,000 m when the winner, Khalid Skah, was disqualified because a fellow Moroccan had cheated on his behalf, but the decision was reversed controversially on appeal. In 1993 Chelimo set a world record of 27 min 7.91 sec for the 10,000-m event only to watch it fall to his Kenyan compatriot Yobes Ondieki less than a week later.

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