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Nairobi, Kenya - Kenya's former 10 000 metres world record-holder
Richard Chelimo has died in hospital in his home town of Eldoret,
aged 29. Chelimo, who won Olympic and world championship silver
medals in his career, was taken ill a few days before he died
of a brain tumour on Wednesday.
The elder brother of two-times world 5 000m champion Ishmael
Kirui, Chelimo set his world 10 000m record of 27:07.91 in
Stockholm in July 1993. It was broken within a week by fellow
Kenyan Yobes Ondieki, the first man to run the 10 000 in under
27 minutes.
Chelimo's first major achievement was the silver medal for
the 10 000m at the Tokyo world championships in 1991. At the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Chelimo again won the 10
000 silver medal, losing to Moroccan Khalid Skah, who became
a bitter rival. Chelimo leaves his wife and four children.
source Kenya
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