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Somewhere in Africa, there's a 12-year-old who can run faster than anyone else in the world. He just hasn't entered a race yet. In 1997 African men utterly owned competitive running. They ruled every distance from 800 meters to the marathon. Wilson Kipketer, originally from Kenya but now a naturalized Danish citizen, ran 1:41.11 in the 800, shattering the oldest record in men's track. Three Kenyans—led by Bernard Barmasai who ran 7:55.72—became the first men to run the steeplechase under eight minutes. Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Daniel Komen of Kenya traded 5K world records; Komen came out on top with an unheard-of 12:39.74. Gebrselassie and Kenyan Paul Tergat played tit for tat with the 10K record, now held by Tergat (26:27.85). Finally, African runners won marathon after marathon after marathon, including Chicago, where Khalid Khannouchi of Morocco (now living in Brooklyn) ran 2:07.10, the fourth-fastest time in history.
From Sports Illustrated: Photograph by Bob Martin
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