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Eliud was born in Kapsosiwa. He grew up in a family with four children. He was raised by his mother only as his father died when Eliud had the age of 2 years. He has no memories about his father. The family lived on a subsistence-level farm of about one acre and three cows. His mother earned some extra money by teaching in a nursery school. She stopped this job in 1999 due to reorganisation of the nursery school system.
Eliud attended Kaptel high-school were he competed on school-level in 3000m and 5000m. He started running in the primary but stopped for two years during Form 3 and Form 4. He concentrated on passing the exams and sports was less important to him. In 2000 he had a small job to earn some income for the family. He transported by bike milk from his village to Kapsabet, around 25km separated. On a daily basis he transported 75 litres from Kipsosiwa to Kapsabet on a rate of Ksh. 1 a litre. From the money he earned he bought a pair of running-shoes and started training again in 2001. Later he met Elijah Lagat and Patrick Sang who helped him out with some more equipment and advice. The tooth he is missing was caused while pumping up a tyre from a bicycle. The pressure came to high and the pump was smashed in his face. A dentist in Nijmegen (Netherlands) gave him a full smile again. Patrick Sang is from the same area and the example for Eliud; "He is from the same area. I respect him a lot for what he did on and off the track. He is great coach and good motivator. He gives me the right advise and I think when I follow along his lines I will achieve a lot". Eliud qualified for the World Junior XC and track Champions in 2002. In Dublin he finished 5th and he had to miss the World Junior Championships in Kingston (JAM) because of illness. He revenged in 2003 by claiming the World Junior title in Lausanne (SUI) in a sprint of 500m with Boniface Kiprop from Uganda. He started the season of 2003 with a win in Milan (ITA). Although the pace was not so fast he managed to ran a personal best by running the last 800m under 2 minutes. He followed this up with a 2nd place to Songok in Rehlingen’s 1500m. He finished in 3:36:12 running the last 150m with one shoe. There he proved to be a runner with a lot of speed as well. In Oslo he ran a World Junior record, breaking the old one from his training-partner Philip Mosima. On his win in Paris: "I knew I was capable of doing something. I was sure of a medal after the heats. That Bekele made the race fast was an advantage to me. I only had to follow and only took control a few times during the race. At 200m I knew I could catch El Guerrouj. The only one I couldn't see was Bekele. Fortunately he didn't had the strength to pass me. I think I also broke my 800m-record in that race", he says with a smile.
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