Bethwell Birgen
Bethwell Birgen is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres. He was born on June 13, 1987. His best time in the 1500m is 3:30.77, which makes him one of the fastest ever, and his indoor best is 3:34.65, also among the best indoors.
Birgen began competing in Europe in 2009, quickly setting personal bests and helping Kenya in a 4×1500 metres relay at the Memorial Van Damme. In 2010 he improved to 3:35.60 for the 1500m and 7:39.65 for the 3000m, and he ran 3:34.59 at the Shanghai Diamond League.
In 2012 he had a big indoor breakthrough, winning the Weltklasse Karlsruhe with 3:34.65 (the second-fastest indoors that year) and finishing runner-up at XL Galan and the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix. This earned him a spot at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, where he did not advance past the first round. He ran 3:31.00 for the 1500m in Doha that year, ranking among the world’s best, and he ran 3:30.77 at Monaco’s Herculis, placing fifth in the world that season. He did not make the Kenyan Olympic team, finishing fifth at the trials.
In 2013 he won the Russian Winter Meeting indoors in Moscow with 3:35.25 and later posted another strong indoor time of 3:30.77 at Monaco. He represented Kenya at the 2013 World Championships, reaching the semi-finals in the 1500m but finishing 10th there and not making the final. He also won the PSD Bank Meeting indoors and had strong results at the Russian Winter Meeting, earning him a place at the 2014 World Indoor Championships. His brother Bernard Kiprop Koech is a marathon runner.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:05 (CET).