Quotes from Wilson
Kipketer Press Conference
March
7 1997
PARIS - 19:20
" I did the
right thing at the right time," said
Kipketer speaking after his astonishing 800m
world record 1:43.in Bercy tonight. "I
needed to do something great for my sport, my
federation and for my sponsor."
"I came here
and was sure I would be able to run fast because
I had trained hard in the USA and knew the kind
of shape I was in."
What kind of
training had you been doing in the USA?:
"The training
is a secret and if I told you what it was it
wouldn’t be a secret anymore! I keep the
secret in my heart."
Had you been
tempted by the thought of the $50,000 on offer
for breaking the world record?
"I was pushed
by myself because I have my own rule and that is
that every day I run faster and try harder."
Did you know that
rules stated that in World Championships outdoors
in Athens bonus would be $100,000 Kipketer
replied:
"I repeat
that I know only my rule and that is to run
faster in Athens than here."
Why did you break
the world record in the heat rather than in the
final:
"It is better
to think about one thing at a time. In the final
I must think about becoming World Champion and
not about breaking records."
Kipketer was
running his first race of the winter. Before
tonight his best for 800m indoors was 1:47.03
dating back to 1992. Although he has been able to
compete for the Danish Athletic Federation at
IAAF events since 1995 he still does not have a
Danish passport and had been forced to miss the
1996 Olympic Games for this reason. The Olympic
800m final was won by Norway’s Vebjorn Rodal
against whom Kipketer had a 5-0 win ratio in
1996. As a young man Kipketer attended the famous
St Patrick’s school in Kenya where he was
coached by an Irish missionary brother Colm
O’Connor. He has lived in Denmark since 1990
and is a graduate of electronic engineering.
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