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Published on: 6/11/2004
Last Visited: 6/11/2004
Paul Ereng(915) 747-6840
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Paul Ereng
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The 1988 Olympic goal medalist Paul Ereng became the first Kenyan to take a collegiate coaching job in the United States when he was named UTEP's cross country and distance on Aug. 8, 2003.
Ereng comes to UTEP after working for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as the technical director for the development of the youth of Africa since 2001.While working at the IAAF High Performance Training Center in Eldoret, Kenya, he trained with young men and women middle to long distance runner from various African countries.
Ereng's runners won medals in the 800, 1,500, steeplechase, 5,000 and the 10,000 at the 2001 Africa Junior Championships in Mauritius.
Ereng coached Janeth Jepkosgei, who won the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championship title in the 800 and also had a fifth-place finisher on the men's side.
He molded Eziekiel Kemboi who ranked third in the world in 2003 in the steeplechase (8:02.49).Kemboi was second in the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and was runner-up at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris.
In cross country, he trained Simrate Sultan, a top-15 female for the 2003 World Junior Cross Country Championships, and a Ali Abdalla, who finished 25th at the World Cross Country Championships on a men's 4K course.
In 2002, Ereng was appointed to head the Kenya World Junior Championships team, which finished second overall.
Along with his IAAF duties, Ereng started and coached the Eldoret Track and Field club.
He is certified by the IAAF with a level two standing for coaching middle and long distance events.He has been the President of the Africa Region V Track and Field Coaches Association, founder and executive member of the Kenya Coaches Commission, president of the National Association of Kenya Olympians and secretary general of the Rift Valley Province Track and Field Association.
Over the years, Ereng has been the recipient of many awards, honors and titles.In 2003 he was given the all-time, top-10 achievers medal in track and field by the Atlantic Coast Conference.He received the IAAF's lifetime athletics award in 2002.Granted Kenya's highest title of the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) in 1990.Received the Jumbo Elliott Award for demonstrating quality and leadership off and on the track in 1989.Picked up the Henry Cummings Award as Virginia's top male athlete in 1989 as well.
As an athlete, Ereng was a three-time NCAA champion, a four-time NCAA All-American, the 1988 Olympic goal medalist in Seoul, twice the World Indoor Champion and a former world record holder.
As a freshman at the University of Virginia, Ereng won the 1988 NCAA Outdoor 800 title.
He emerged on the world scene by defeating Joaquim Cruz and Moroccan Said Aoiuta in the 800 at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games to take Kenya's first-ever goal medal in the event.
At the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungry, he established the world record in 1:44.84.A few days later he claimed his second NCAA indoor title in the 800 and then the NCAA outdoor crown in the spring.
Ereng lost only one 800 race during the 1989 outdoor season in 15 tries.He also had the world's fastest time of 1:43.16 during the season.
He also was fourth at the 1991 IAAF World Championships in Tokyo and was a member of the Kenya Olympic team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Ereng graduated from Virginia in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies with a minor in sociology.
A native of Eldoret, Kenya, he attended the Starehe Boys Center as a prep.
He and his wife, Fatuma, have two daughters (Jasmine & Victoria).
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