“It was just a matter of showing up and putting out whatever I had that day – and fair enough, that was my day! I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t expect to win. Nobody knew I was there, nobody was thinking about me. Even after the Rabat [Diamond League], I was shocked by myself!”

A few months ago, Jonah Koech wasn't even supposed to be in the race. His Diamond League debut was meant to be an 800m in Rabat until a late field change bumped him out. The backup plan was to race the 1500m, an event where his personal best was 3:37.

But that night in Morocco, Koech ran the race of his life, moving from 13th to 1st over the final lap, dropping a six second personal best of 3:31 and delivering one of the most improbable victories in Diamond League history. And if Rabat was the warning shot, then Eugene was the exclamation point at the U.S. Championships in just his seventh career 1500m as a pro.

Koech closed in 12.49 seconds for the final 100m, nearly all of it in lane two, to win in a U.S. championship record of 3:30.17. He finished ahead of Ethan Strand and Olympic champion Cole Hocker. That's your team for the World Championships. Yared Nuguse missed the team, Hobbs Kessler missed the team. Jonah Koech did not. 

It's already been a winding road to get to this point, and in this episode, we talk all about it from growing up in Kenya, training alongside David Rudisha, the stops at UTEP and Texas Tech to U.S. citizenship through the Army service, injuries, a late career reinvention, and now heading to the world championships in the 1500m as a legit threat.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Jonah Koech | @jonah_koech on Instagram

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

Mentioned in this episode…

Watch: USATF Championships men’s 1500m final

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