Ben Jipcho RIP

A great athlete! I remember watching him race and him being an inspiration when I was younger.

Legend in his day.

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXa9HyNouKM

Ben Jipcho @ 1974 Commonwealth Games

26 January 3000m steeplechase

1 Ben Jipcho Kenya 8:20.67 GR

2 John Davies Wales 8:24.8

3 Evans Mogaka Kenya 8:28.51

4 John Bicourt England 8:29.6

5 Euan Robertson New Zealand 8:35.2

6 Bernard Hayward Wales 8:36.2

7 Stephen Hollings England 8:40.4

8 Amos Biwott Kenya 8:41.4

9 Bob Hendy Australia 8:46.0

10 Nathan Healey New Zealand 8:52.2

11 Howard Healey New Zealand 8:52.4

12 Justin Edwogu Uganda 9:01.0

13 Joseph Doherty Nigeria 9:23.8

27 January 5000m

Ben Jipcho Kenya Ht 13.57.2

29 January 5000m final

1 Ben Jipcho Kenya 13:14.4 GR

2 Brendan Foster England 13:14.6

3 Dave Black England 13:23.52

4 Suleiman Nyambui Tanzania 13:34.91

5 Ian Stewart Scotland 13:40.32

6 David Fitzsimons Australia 13:42.83

7 Joshua Kimeto Kenya 13:43.6

8 Gordon Minty Wales 13:45.48

9 Paul Mose Kenya 13:54.44

10 Bryan Rose New Zealand 14:00.93

11 David Bedford England 14:18.76

12 Mustafa Musa Uganda 14:25.39

31 January 1500m Ht

Ben Jipcho Kenya 3.43.6

2 February 1500m final

1 Filbert Bayi Tanzania 3:32.16 WR

2 John Walker New Zealand 3:32.52 AR

3 Ben Jipcho Kenya 3:33.16

4 Rod Dixon New Zealand 3:33.89

5 Graham Crouch Australia 3:34.22 NR

6 Mike Boit Kenya 3:36.84

7 Brendan Foster England 3:37.64

8 Suleiman Nyambui Tanzania 3:39.62

9 David Fitzsimons Australia 3:41.30

10 John Kirkbride England 3:41.91

11 Randal Markey Australia 3:44.56

Tony Polhill New Zealand DNS

He's mostly remembered, if at all, for being Keino's pacesetter in the 1968 Olympic 1500m, but, as some of the other posts illustrate, he was quite an accomplished athlete on his own.

Didn't he also run for the ITA, the fledgling pro track circuit in the mid-1970's?

1955 wrote:

He's mostly remembered, if at all, for being Keino's pacesetter in the 1968 Olympic 1500m, but, as some of the other posts illustrate, he was quite an accomplished athlete on his own.

Didn't he also run for the ITA, the fledgling pro track circuit in the mid-1970's?

Yep, running against Ryun and Lindgren.

YMMV wrote:

1955 wrote:

He's mostly remembered, if at all, for being Keino's pacesetter in the 1968 Olympic 1500m, but, as some of the other posts illustrate, he was quite an accomplished athlete on his own.

Didn't he also run for the ITA, the fledgling pro track circuit in the mid-1970's?

Yep, running against Ryun and Lindgren.

(I saw them in about '73-74 indoors)

That is an AMAZING triple. Pretty sure Galen Rupp in his prime could not have done that.

1955 wrote:

He's mostly remembered, if at all, for being Keino's pacesetter in the 1968 Olympic 1500m, but, as some of the other posts illustrate, he was quite an accomplished athlete on his own.

Didn't he also run for the ITA, the fledgling pro track circuit in the mid-1970's?

If that's what you mostly recall him for, you weren't paying attention.

His Wiki bio has him at 5'7", 157lb. I'm assuming that's not what he weighed when he was a competitive runner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jipcho

26 January 3000m steeplechase

1 Ben Jipcho Kenya 8:20.67 GR

2 John Davies Wales 8:24.8

3 Evans Mogaka Kenya 8:28.51

4 John Bicourt England 8:29.6

5 Euan Robertson New Zealand 8:35.2

6 Bernard Hayward Wales 8:36.2

7 Stephen Hollings England 8:40.4

8 Amos Biwott Kenya 8:41.4

9 Bob Hendy Australia 8:46.0

10 Nathan Healey New Zealand 8:52.2

Euan Robertson also ran in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. Henry Rono dominated those games in the distances. Unfortunately, Euan is also deceased. Very nice guy.

dink again wrote:

1955 wrote:

He's mostly remembered, if at all, for being Keino's pacesetter in the 1968 Olympic 1500m, but, as some of the other posts illustrate, he was quite an accomplished athlete on his own.

Didn't he also run for the ITA, the fledgling pro track circuit in the mid-1970's?

If that's what you mostly recall him for, you weren't paying attention.

I remember him well, but many on these boards weren't yet alive when he ran.

Grassrunner wrote:

His Wiki bio has him at 5'7", 157lb. I'm assuming that's not what he weighed when he was a competitive runner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jipcho

He could easily have been 157lb. His listed height seems short, tho.

Why no mention of his Munich double, tho. Beat both Ian Stewart and Viren 1 day after a steeplechase.

Munich double? Jipcho ran a 5,000 heat on September 7, three days after he won silver in the steeplechase. But he failed to advance. What double are you talking about?

Living in the Past wrote:

Munich double? Jipcho ran a 5,000 heat on September 7, three days after he won silver in the steeplechase. But he failed to advance. What double are you talking about?

Munchen 1971 Pre Olympic. Indicative he could have starred 1972, but he didn't.

Didn't Jipcho run WR 8:20 right after Munich? Think Jipcho goofed his 5,000 heat, thinking 4 auto went through.

In the pre-Olympic meet in 1971, Jipcho won the steeplechase in 8:29.6 and, the following day, won the 5,000 in 13:40.8. Ian Stewart was second in 13:41.4 and Mike Tagg third. Those were good performances, but they don't rank as major achievements or indicate that Jipcho would dominate the Olympics the following year.

Stewart was coming back from an achilles tendon injury in 1971 and was not at this best. He wasn't on the GB team for the European Championships in Helsinki three weeks earlier. And Viren was only 7th in the 5,000 at those championships (Tagg was7th in the 10,000). Beating Stewart and Viren in 1971 was a lot easier than beating them in 1972. Maybe that's why no one else mentioned Jipcho's "double."

Using the term "Munich double" without clarification is misleading because it has a particular connotation that does not apply to Jipcho.

Jipcho was legend of his own and broke steeplechase WR three times, also African record holder at mile at the time (3:52.17), second fastest to Ryun's record. At '74 Commonwealths, he almost broke 5000m WR (in a championship race) and was close to WR in the 1500m.

He was also biggest star of the ITA circuit in mid '70's, winning about 60 races and losing just one or two.

Better athlete than Ryun, I would say.

Superb runner that he was with a great range of events I don’t think you can say he was a better runner than Jim Ryan.

Ran against him once in a Commonweath Games warmup meeting in Ashburton, 1974. Unusual shaped grass track over 3000 metres. I think he only lapped me once.