( CNN ) -- That Africans today so dominate distance running is in part testament to the career of Kipchoge ( Kip ) Keino . Keino claimed an unexpected victory in the 3,000m steeplechase in Munich in 1972 . The first black African to break onto the international stage at the beginning of the 1960s , Kip Keino won two Olympic golds and was a formidable force in the sport for 12 years . Other athletes would win more golds , but few would win races and hold records at all distances from 1,500 meters to 10,000 meters . Keino was 24-years-old before he competed at his first Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 where he finished 10th and fifth in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters respectively . In 1965 he broke two world records : the 3,000m at Helsingborg in Sweden in seven minutes 39.6 seconds ( his first attempt at the distance ) ; and the 5,000m in Auckland in 13 minutes 24.2 seconds . His form looked good for the high-altitude games of Mexico City in 1968 , but stomach cramps forced him out of the 10,000m with just two laps to go . He recovered to win a stunning gold in the 1,500m . Knowing that race favorite , Jim Ryun had a devastating kick in the final hundreds , Keino decided to hit the front early . He managed to hold on and finished 20 meters ahead of Ryan -- the largest winning margin and the second fastest time in the event 's history . Born to run . In the same year he also took a silver in the 5,000m . He had run six races in just eight days despite a gallbladder infection . But it was at the Munich Games of 1972 that the untrained Nandi tribesman from Kipsano , in the high plains of Kenya , proved he was born to run . In the steeplechase , with only one win from his previous four competitive attempts at the event and twenty-three others lining up with better personal times , Keino was not even expected to make the final . Yet , somehow he staved off challenges from his more experienced compatriot , Ben Jipcho , and Finland 's Tapio Kantanen , to win in an Olympic record time of eight minutes 23.6 seconds . Keino will be remembered for two things : opening up the latent athletic talent of Africa and his disquieting natural ability to conquer all-comers in five distinct events . When he finally retired after the All Africa Games in Lagos in 1975 , he fittingly returned home to a daughter he and his wife had named Milka Olympia Chelagat .
Olympic record : 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals . - The first time a country won the most golds in one Olympics He had run six races in just eight days despite a gallbladder infection . Runner ; born January 17 , 1940 , in Kenya .