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Table 1 Sources of results-proven practice

From: The Training Characteristics of World-Class Distance Runners: An Integration of Scientific Literature and Results-Proven Practice

Athletes [Ref.]

Personal bests (min)

International merits

Said Aouita ♂ [39]

5000 m 12:58.39 (WR)—mile 3:46.76

Olympic gold 1984, WC gold 1987

Stefano Baldini ♂ [69]

Marathon 2:07:22—Half marathon 1:00:50

Olympic gold 2004, EC gold 1998 and 2006

Dieter Baumann ♂ [40]

5000 m 12:54.70–3000 m 7:30.50

Olympic gold 1992, EC gold 1994

Kenenisa Bekele ♂ [81]

5000 m 12:37.35 (WR)—10,000 m 26:17.53 (WR)

3× Olympic gold and 5× WC gold 2003–2009

Joan Benoit ♀ [97]

Marathon 2:21:21—Half marathon 1:08:34

Olympic gold 1984

Gelindo Bordin ♂ [70]

Marathon 2:10:32—Half marathon 1:03:16

Olympic gold 1988, EC gold 1986 and 1990

Robert de Castella ♂ [82]

Marathon 2:07:51 (WR)

WC gold 1983

Joshua Cheptegei ♂ [41]

5000 m 12:35.36 (WR)—10,000 m 26:11.00 (WR)

Olympic gold and silver 2021, WC gold 2019

Stephen Cherono ♂ [60]

5000 m 12:48.81—3000 m SC 7:53.63 (WR)

WC gold 2003 and 2005

Constantina Diță ♀ [83]

Marathon 2:21:30—Half marathon 1:08:10

Olympic gold 2008, WC bronze 2005

Brendan Foster ♂ [62]

5000 m 13:14.6—10,000 m 27:30.3

Olympic bronze 1976, EC gold 1974

Haile Gebrselassie ♂ [42]

5000 m 12:39.36 (WR)—10,000 m 26:22.75 (WR)

2× Olympic gold and 4× WC gold 1995–2000

Sifan Hassan ♀ [49]

1500 m 3:51.95—10,000 m 29:36.67

2× Olympic gold 2021, 2× WC gold 2019

Takayuki Inubushi ♂ [71]

Marathon 2:06:57

Former Asian record holder in the marathon

Joyciline Jepkosgei ♀ [85]

Marathon 2:18:40—Half marathon 1:04:51 (WR)

WC silver 2018 and winner of New York marathon 2019

Steve Jones ♂ [80]

Marathon 2:07:13 (WR)

Winner of London and New York marathon in the 1980s

Deena Kastor ♀ [87]

Marathon 2:19:36—Half marathon 1:07:34

Olympic bronze 2004

Meb Keflezighi ♂ [78]

Marathon 2:09:08—10,000 m 27:13.98

Olympic silver 2004

Kip Keino ♂ [61]

5000 m 13:24.2—3000 m 7:39.6

2× Olympic gold and 2× Olympic silver 1968–1972

Bob Kennedy ♂ [43]

5000 m 12:58.21—3000 m 7:30.84

6th in the Olympics (1996) and WC (1997)

Sylvia Kibet ♀ [45]

5000 m 14:31.91—10,000 m 30:47.20

Olympic bronze 2008, WC silver 2009 and 2011

Eliud Kipchoge ♂ [76]

Marathon 2:01:39 (WR)—5000 m 12:46.53

Olympic gold 2016 and 2021, WC gold 2003

Florence Kiplagat ♀ [46]

Half marathon 1:05:09—10,000 m 30:11.53

WC gold 2009 and 2010 (cross-country and half marathon)

Wilson Kipsang ♂ [96]

Marathon 2:03:13—Half marathon 58:59

Olympic bronze 2012, 5 World Marathon Major wins

Abel Kirui ♂ [75]

Marathon 2:05:04—Half marathon 1:00:11

WC gold 2009 and 2011, Olympic silver 2012

Daniel Komen ♂ [57]

5000 m 12:39.74 (WR)—3000 m 7:20.67 (WR)

WC gold 1997

Brigid Kosgei ♀ [92]

Marathon 2:14:04 (WR)—Half marathon 1:04:49

Olympic silver 2021, 1st in four Marathon majors 2018–2020

Paul M. Kosgei ♀ [93]

Half marathon 59:07—10,000 m 27:21.56

WC gold (half marathon) 2002

Ingrid Kristiansen ♀ [63]

10,000 m 30:13.74 (WR)—Marathon 2:21:06 (WR)

WC gold 1987, EC gold 1986

Bernard Lagat ♂ [52]

5000 m 12:53.60—1500 m 3:26.34

2× WC gold 2007, Olympic silver 2004 and bronze 2000

Thomas Longosiwa ♂ [58]

5000 m 12:49.04—3000 m 7:30.09

Olympic bronze 2012

Tegla Loroupe ♀ [86]

Marathon 2:20:43—10 000 m 30:32.03

3× WC gold (half marathon) and 2× WC silver 1995–1999

Lisa Martin ♀ [88]

Marathon 2:23:51—10,000 m 31:11.72

Olympic silver 1988

Greg Meyer ♂ [79]

Marathon 2:09:01—10,000 m 27:53.1

Winner of Boston marathon 1981 and 1983

Geoffrey Mutai ♂ [73]

Marathon 2:04:15—Half marathon 58:58

Winner of New York, Boston and Berlin marathon 2011–2013

Imane Merga ♂ [59]

10 000 m 26:48.35—5000 m 12:53.58

WC bronze 2011, WC gold cross-country 2011

Lorraine Moller ♀ [97]

Marathon 2:28:17

Olympic bronze 1992

David Moorcroft ♂ [51]

5000 m 13:00.41 (WR)—3000 m 7:32.79

EC bronce 1978 and 1982

Moses Mosop ♂ [72]

Marathon 2:05:03—10,000 m 26:49.55

WC bronze 2005

Craig Mottram ♂ [53]

5000 m 12:55.76—3000 m 7:32.19

WC bronze 2005

Caleb Ndiku ♂ [55]

5000 m 12:59.17—3000 m 7:30.99

WC silver 2015

Yobes Ondieki ♂ [56]

10,000 m 26:58.38 (WR)—5000 m 13:01.82

WC gold 1991

Sonia O'Sullivan ♀ [48]

5000 m 14:41.02—3000 m 8:21.64

WC gold 1995, 3 × EC gold 1994–1998, Olympic silver 2000

Jim Peters ♂ [64]

Marathon 2:17:40

Four marathon WRs in the 1950s

Gordon Pirie ♂ [65]

5000 m 13:36.8—3000 m 7:52.8

Olympic silver 1956, EC bronze 1958

Paula Radcliffe ♀ [89]

Marathon 2:15:25 (WR)—10,000 m 30:01.09

WC gold, 3× WC half marathon gold, EC gold 2000–2005

Bill Rodgers ♂ [90]

Marathon 2:09:27 (WR)—10,000 m 28:04.42

Multiple winner of Boston and New York marathon 1976–1980

Rodgers Rop ♂ [94]

Marathon 2:07:32—Half marathon 1:00:56

Winner of New York and Boston marathon 2002

Molly Seidel [84]

Marathon 2:25:13—Half marathon 1:08:29

Olympic bronze 2021

Toshihiko Seko ♂ [91]

Marathon 2:08:27—10,000 m 27:42.17

Winner of Boston, London and Chicago marathon in the 1980s

Mubarak H. Shami ♂ [77]

Marathon 2:07:19—Half marathon 1:00:47

WC silver 2007, WC half marathon silver 2005

Charlie Spedding ♂ [74]

Marathon 2:08:33—10,000 m 28:08.12

Olympic bronze 1984

Ian Stewart ♂ [66]

10,000 m 27:43.03—5000 m 13:22.8

EC gold 1969, Olympic bronze 1972

Paul Tergat ♂ [54]

10,000 m 26:27.85—Marathon 2:04:55 (WR)

5× WC gold cross-country and 2× Olympic silver 1995–1900

Andy Vernon [50]

5000 m 13:11.50—10,000 m 27:42.62

EC silver and bronze 2014

Lasse Viren ♂ [67]

5000 m 13:16.4 (WR)—10,000 m 27:38.35 (WR)

4× Olympic gold 1972–1976, WC bronze 1974

Grethe Waitz ♀ [68]

Marathon 2:24:54 (WR)—Half marathon 1:07:50

WC gold 1983 and 5× WC cross-country gold 1978–1983

Susanne Wigene ♀ [47]

10,000 m 30:32.36—5000 m 14:48.53

EC silver 2006

Emil Zatopek [97]

5000 m 13:57.0—10,000 m 28:54.2

4× Olympic golds and 4× EC golds 1948–1954

Coaches [ref.]

Successful long-distance athletes

Athlete merits

Nic Bideau [20]

Craig Mottram

WC bronze 2005

Bill Bowerman [21]

Steve Prefontaine, Bill Dellinger, Matt Centrowitz

Bowerman trained 31 Olympic athletes

Antonio Cabral [22]

Alberto Chaica, Fernando Couto

Olympic and WC finals

Renato Canova [23, 24]

Abel Kirui, Sylvia Kibet, Imane Merga

45 Olympic/WC medals, 15 World Marathon Major wins

Jack Daniels [25]

Coached seven athletes to the U.S. Olympic team

Olympic finals

John Davis [26]

Dick Quax, Lorraine Moller

Olympic medals

Brad Hudson [27]

Dathan Ritzenhein

Olympic finals

Mihaly Igloi [28]

Multiple long-distance athletes in the 1950s and 1960s

A total of 49 world records

Arthur Lydiard [29,30,31]

Murray Halberg, Barry Magee

Olympic medals in the 1960s

Mihaly Iglói [28]

Sándor Iharos, Jim Beatty, Bob Schul

His athletes achieved 49 WRs in the 1950s and 1960s

Steve Magness [32]

Assistant coach and advisor for elite runners

Seven top-15 finishes at WC

Kim McDonald [33]

Daniel Komen, Stephen Cherono

Olympic and WC medals

Terrence Mahon [34]

Deena Kastor, Jen Rhines, and Ryan Hall

Olympic medals and finals

Gabriele Rosa [35]

Moses Tanui, Paul Tergat, Sammy Wanjiru

Olympic medals

Joe Vigil [36, 37]

Coach for the US Olympic team in 1998

Olympic finals

Chris Wardlaw [38]

Steve Moneghetti, Rob De Castella, Craig Mottram

WC medals

  1. Overall, the 59 listed athletes have won 51 medals in Olympic Games (22 gold, 15 silver, 11 bronze), 62 medals in World Athletics Championships (26-14-17), 56 medals in continental championships (25-11-17), 25 medals in World Athletics Half Marathon Championships (15-3-1), 52 medals in World Athletics Cross Country Championships (31-8-9), 16 medals in World Athletics Indoor Championships (10-4-2) and 48 world marathon major wins. Eighteen of the listed athletes are former or current world record holders
  2. WC world championships, EC European championships, WR former or current world record holder