3:27 Out of Nowhere? How 18-Year-Old Phanuel Koech Ran So Fast in the Paris 1500

The results of the men’s 1500 meters at last week’s Meeting de Paris were so remarkable that it was hard to know where to begin. Every observation prompted a new question.

How did race winner Azeddine Habz, a 31-year-old Frenchman who has made one global 1500m final in his career, run 3:27.49 — a time bettered by just five men in history?

How did a field that featured just one man from last year’s Olympic 1500-meter final (ninth-placer Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands) produce one of the deepest 1500m races in history, with a record-breaking 13 men under 3:32?

And who the heck was Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech?

Before Friday’s race, Koech, an 18-year-old from Kenya, had run precisely one 1500-meter race in his entire life. To that point, his most notable result had been a 5th-place finish in the 800 meters at last year’s World U20 championships in Peru. Which is to say, he was virtually anonymous when he stepped to the start line at Stade Charléty.

Less than four minutes later, Koech, who finished 2nd behind Habz, had become one of the ten fastest 1500 men in history. His time of 3:27.72 took more than a second off Ronald Kwemoi‘s 11-year-old world U20 record of 3:28.81 and slotted him in at #9 on the all-time list, in between reigning Olympic champion Cole Hocker (3:27.65) and reigning world champion Josh Kerr (3:27.79).

It was a result that even the handful of insiders who had heard of Koech have struggled to process. Two weeks earlier, in his first-ever 1500, Koech had run 3:32.26 at a low-key race in Lucca, Italy, winning by more than three seconds. After that race, Koech’s Italian coach Claudio Berardelli had told Koech’s managers, Eric Lilot and Monica Pont, that he could run much faster with better competition.

“I told [them], if you can get him a better race, this boy might run probably 3:30 quite easily,” Berardelli said. “I wasn’t expecting 3:27. The other night in Paris, this track is super fast, very good conditions, but still quite amazing. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what is the potential of this boy.”

In that, Berardelli is hardly alone.

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A rapid rise

Koech was born in Kewapmwai, a village in Uasin Gishu County roughly 35 miles southwest of Eldoret. The youngest of 10, he was raised there by a single mother, Roselyne, after his father died before he was born. Koech took up running in 2019 while at Tingwa Primary School and eventually moved on to St. Francis Kimuron School near Iten, a high school track powerhouse that produced Olympic 800m champions David Rudisha and Emmanuel Korir. At St. Francis Kimuron, he largely focused on the 800 meters and cross country, finishing 6th in the 800 at the African U18 championships in 2023 before running a personal best of 1:46.93 to make the Kenyan team for World U20s last year.

Upon graduation in the fall of 2024, Koech signed with Lilot, who had been working with adidas to sponsor the St. Francis Kimuron team. Around the same time, Koech had also drawn interest from a recruiting service that offered the possibility of coming to the United States for university. Lilot said he told Koech he would not stop him from going to the US if that is what he wanted, but Koech chose to stay in Kenya and signed a professional contract with adidas.

Initially, Koech joined a training group in Iten coached by Italian Gabriele Nicola, best-known as the coach of four-time New York City Marathon champion Mary Keitany. But Nicola’s athletes, most of whom are marathoners, struggled to keep up with Koech in workouts. Occasionally, Jacob Krop, a medalist at 5,000 meters at the 2022 and 2023 Worlds, would join the group for sessions. But on the days Krop was not there, Koech did not have anyone to train with at his level. Lilot began exploring other options.

“We were worried that he would get frustrated or maybe not have the right training mates,” Lilot said.

Koech in Ostrava on Tuesday

In March, Lilot reached out to Berardelli, coach of Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, to see whether Koech could join Berardelli’s 2 Running Club in Kapsabet on a trial basis. Berardelli agreed, also bringing in Danson Mutai, Koech’s friend and training partner from St. Francis Kimuron (and 3:42 man in his own right), to help Koech feel more comfortable in the transition. Koech was on board, excited by the possibility of training with Wanyonyi.

It only took a few sessions for Berardelli to realize two things:

1) Koech was really, really good.

2) He had been running the wrong event.

Berardelli called Lilot and said he could envision Koech dominating the world within a few years — but in the 1500, not the 800.

“I realized this boy had an incredible aerobic capacity,” Berardelli said. “I remember we did a session of 800 in progression starting from 2:05 and you know we are at 2000m (6,561 feet) altitude on a dirt track. Now I have to go and see my report, but I remember the last two, I think he ran at 1:55-1:56.”

Still, the 800 remained Koech’s favorite event. At the end of April, Koech went to Germany to run a road mile at the adizero: Road to Records event. Berardelli instructed him to run near the front and help keep the pace going for Wanyonyi, who was trying to break the world record of 3:51.3. Wanyonyi would fall short, running 3:52.45, but Berardelli was impressed by Koech, who had been willing to mix it up at the front of the race and was in 2nd with 100 meters to go. Koech wound up 4th in 3:56.08 after Americans Hobbs Kessler and Nico Young ran him down in the home straight.

“When he came back, he told me, maybe I can focus on the 1500,” Berardelli said. “I told him, definitely.”

On June 8, Koech raced his first 1500 at Meeting Internazionale Città di Lucca, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event. As far as Lilot knows, Lucca really was Koech’s first 1500-meter race — ever. Lilot even asked his high school coach, who said Koech ran the 800, 3000, and cross country while at St. Francis Kimuron, but never a 1500.

After Koech ran 3:32, Lilot and Pont tried to get him into a Diamond League. Stockholm on June 15 was a possibility, but Berardelli had given Koech a hard workout a few days after the first race and was concerned he would not be recovered in time. They tried Paris on June 20 instead, and Koech was accepted into the field after a late scratch. Then he ran 3:27.

It was not the first big performance by a late add to a Diamond League 1500 this year (though the 1500 in Paris was not an official DL points event). A month earlier, Jonah Koech had been meant to run the 800 in Rabat, only to switch to the 1500 when there was no longer room for him. He wound up running a six-second pb of 3:31.43 and winning the race. While the Diamond League has lost some star power in the 1500 this year with Hocker, Kerr, and Yared Nuguse focused on Grand Slam Track and Jakob Ingebrigtsen injured, their absences have opened up opportunities for athletes like Phanuel and Jonah Koech, who may not have otherwise been able to get into a Diamond League.

Four days after Paris, Koech backed up his run by winning the 1500 at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in 3:29.05. Only Hicham El Guerrouj has run two sub-3:30s in as quick succession.

Shortest gaps between sub-3:30 1500s

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Placing 3:27 in context

Only 11 men in history have broken 3:28 for 1500 meters. It is a group that includes seven World or Olympic 1500-meter champions and features some of the biggest names in the event’s history. Hicham El Guerrouj. Noureddine Morceli. Jakob Ingebrigtsen. And now, Phanuel Koech. How did an 18-year-old 1500m newbie find his way into such elite company?

Even those closest to Koech are not totally sure how he ran this fast this early in his career. Berardelli has worked with Koech for only three months, but he is starting to realize he could be dealing with a talent at the level of Wanyonyi or Sabastian Sawe, the 2025 London Marathon champion whom Berardelli also coaches.

“He might be one of those ones like Wanyonyi, you understand?” Berardelli said. “Not just a good one, but really something a bit extraordinary.”

Koech ran 3:29.05 to win in Ostrava four days after his 3:27

But talent alone does not explain running 3:27 so early in one’s career. At 18 years, 201 days, Koech was more than four years younger than the next-youngest athlete to break 3:28 (Jakob Ingebrigtsen was 22 years, 269 days when he did it for the first time in Oslo in 2023). Ages in Kenya can be tricky — parents from rural areas can take a while to register births, which means a child’s documents could bear a date that is months, even years, after the actual birth date.

And when a young athlete shows promise in Kenya, it is not uncommon for a handler to change the athlete’s age so that they can compete in international age-group competitions. The Daily Nation reported in February that 34 Kenyan athletes have been investigated for age cheating in cases dating back to 2016. But Lilot does not believe that occurred with Koech.

“I sat down with [his] high school coach and I said, look, you guys need to let me know if anything has ever been done,” Lilot said. “Has anyone ever forged a document or a passport, anything like that? They were like, No, no, no. He came with his papers, we’ve never changed anything.“

Kenya is also in the midst of a massive doping problem; the Athletics Integrity Unit has suspended at least 11 Kenyans for anti-doping rule violations in the last 12 months alone. But Berardelli said he has seen no reason to be suspicious of Koech, noting that he has not left his training camp over the last three months other than to race.

Koech was hardly the only man to run fast in Paris, though — it was just the fifth race in history to feature multiple sub-3:28s, and 13 of the 14 finishers ran personal bests. And the race coincided with a period of dramatic change in global distance running that has led to unprecedented depth in the men’s 800, 1500, and 5,000 meters.

In the last few years, the men’s 1500 has changed significantly. Coaches have tweaked training to maximize the benefits of the increased recovery offered by super-cushioned spikes and shoes. Sodium bicarbonate may have helped athletes push just a little longer in races (though Berardelli said Koech has yet to use it in a race). And thanks to Wavelight and an aggressive era of racing ushered in by athletes like Ingebrigtsen, there are plenty of opportunities to run fast. We already knew that a 3:27 in 2025 is not the same as a 3:27 in 2015. But it is fair to wonder whether a 3:27 in 2025 is even the same as a 3:27 in 2022.

Already in 2025, 11 men have broken 3:30, tied for the most ever in a single year. And that list should grow much longer, considering it does not include Hocker, Kerr, Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler, or Niels Laros — all of whom broke 3:30 in last year’s Olympic final in Paris. Of the 11 men in history to have broken 3:28, more than half have done it within the last year.

Koech’s 3:27.72 puts him 9th on the all-time list. But in the Meeting de Paris — a race with good weather and perfect pacemaking through 1000m — it put Koech .23 behind a guy who finished 12th in one Olympic semifinal last year (Habz) and .64 ahead of a guy who finished 11th in the other Olympic semifinal (George Mills). Once again, we may need to reframe our definition of what qualifies as a truly fast time.

***

Humility and patience

Even before the race in Paris, Koech’s life had already changed enormously this year after graduating high school and moving into the 2 Running Club camp. Now, suddenly, he has been thrust into the global spotlight. It is a lot for a young athlete to take in.

After seeing the race in Paris, Lilot couldn’t help but get a little carried away — “if his second race is 3:27.7, of course my first thought is, well shit, we’re not that far from 3:26,” Lilot said — but quickly planted his feet back on the ground. It is his job to ensure Koech continues to make the right decisions to nurture his talent.

“Every time we speak to him, we emphasize humility and patience, humility and patience,” Lilot said. “…We all see now that he has this talent, it’s just a matter of not losing his head. And I think he’ll be okay, but it’s something that, as a team, we have to help and support him with it.”

For now, the plan is for Koech to return to Kapsabet, where he will train for the next month ahead of the Kenyan World Championship trials, to be held August 1-2. That meet will feature three other men who have broken 3:30 in 2025 (Festus Lagat, Abel Kipsang, Timothy Cheruiyot) as well as 2023 World Championship finalist Reynold Cheruiyot and 2024 Olympic finalist Brian Komen.

Besides the competition at the trials, there is one other hurdle between Koech and September’s World Championships in Tokyo. Due to the country’s recent doping problems, the AIU has labeled Kenya as a “Category A” federation. Which means that, in order to compete in Tokyo, each Kenyan athlete must complete at least three out-of-competition drug tests in the 10 months prior to Worlds, each spaced at least three weeks apart. The AIU also requires the first of those tests to have been conducted before May 24, which was an issue for Koech, considering he is not currently in the AIU’s testing pool.

But after Koech began showing promise in Berardelli’s camp this spring, Lilot said he emailed the AIU, Athletics Kenya, and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya to let them know of Koech’s potential with the hopes that one of them could test him soon. Lilot said Koech completed his first out-of-competition test shortly ahead of the May 24 deadline and anticipates he will not have any issues being eligible for Worlds.

Long-term, Berardelli still sees ways for Koech to improve. He has seen flashes of power in Koech’s bouncy stride, but said his form is still “raw.” Koech has only just started in the weight room.

“We need to work on these things because the way he is sprinting, his legs and arms are going a bit all over,” Berardelli said.

Most importantly, however, Berardelli is trying to keep things in perspective. Ronald Kwemoi, Koech’s predecessor as world U20 record holder, would never run faster than the 3:28.81 he clocked as an 18-year-old in 2014 (in fact, he would never break 3:30 again). Kwemoi would win the occasional Diamond League but spent much of his prime battling injuries; when he did finally medal at a global championship, 10 years later, it came in the 5,000 meters a the Paris Olympics. Cornelius Chirchir, the man whose record Kwemoi broke, never made a global outdoor final. He, too, never ran faster than his 3:30.24 world U20 record from 2002.

That is why the first thing Berardelli told Koech after his 3:27 was to stay humble. Koech may have the brightest of futures, but in this sport, that future is never guaranteed.

“Probably you are gifted with an amazing talent,” Berardelli said, “but [that] doesn’t mean that things will come automatically…One thing is to run a fast race, another thing is to have a full career.”