Who is Beatrice Chebet's coach? Meet the man who plotted double Olympics glory for Kenya’s golden girl

Beatrice Chebet won double gold at the Paris Olympics and her win was a result of months training and tactical execution under a man who is rarely in the spotlight.

When athletes win races at major events, they hog all the limelight and take home nearly all the rewards.

Rightly so, because they put in all the hard work. However, they cannot do it on their won.

Their wins are normally a result of years, months and weeks of training under their coaches.

The coaches’ work is as important as it leads to the end product and most athletes tend go back to honour their trainers away from the glare of the cameras.

That is what double Olympics champion Beatrice Chebet has been doing. Chebet may have become famous among Kenyans following her wins in 5,000m and 10,000m in Paris but this is a result of well-laid down plans by her coach Gabriel Kiptanui.

Kiptanui is one of the senior coaches at the Kericho Athletics Club which is home to a number of Kenyan athletes with Chebet now the standout name.

He has known the 24-year-old since she was a teenager having honed her skills from when she was in school.

When she was 18, Chebet won her first gold medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, announcing herself as one of the stars to watch while putting her stable on the map.

“Of all the medals and titles that I have ever won, the one that I cherish the most is the World U20 gold medal that I won at the Ratina Stadium in Tampere in 2018,” Chebet told World Athletics last year of the 5,000m victory that ended a 10-year winning streak by Ethiopian athletes. “It was my first big victory, so I will not forget it.”

Since then, Chebet has remained a force to be reckoned with in the women’s 5,000m. She won the African U20 title in 2019 and the African senior title in Mauritius in 2022, before she claimed a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham the same year.

She would start her 2023 campaign with a win at the World Cross-Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, showing her growing maturity before winning bronze in 5,000m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The race had been won by her friend and compatriot Faith Kipyegon.

There was a surreal moment at the Kericho Athletics Club when Chebet handed Kiptanui her bronze medal as a sign of gratitude for what he has done in her career.

“This is for the coach, when I win, we all win. Today is me, tomorrow is someone else,” Chebet said in a speech to her stable-mates before handing Kiptanui the medal and other goodies.

Kiptanui and Chebet must have been motivated by what they witnessed in 2023 as even before the year was out, she broke the women's 5K world record in 14:13 at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona in December.

In March, Chebet effortlessly defended her Cross-Country Crown in Belgrade, Serbia before taking it even further in May when she broke Letesenbet Gidey's 10,000m world record of 29:01.03, running a time of 28:54.14 to become the first woman to break the 29-minute barrier at the Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League.

Heading to the Olympics, she was in fine form and delivered two gold medals, the best performance from a Team Kenya athlete at the Paris 2024 Games.

Kiptanui has not hogged the limelight as his prodigy received worldwide acclaim but at the Kericho Athletics Club, he will be receiving much more from Chebet as they plot another major milestone in 2025.