Education
Born in Kitale, Transport-Nzoia, Kenya, Paul Ereng attended Starehe Boys Centre and School in Nairobi, Kenya.
Born in Kitale, Transport-Nzoia, Kenya, Paul Ereng attended Starehe Boys Centre and School in Nairobi, Kenya.
He was a promising 400 m runner until the end of 1987. After enrolling at the University of Virginia, Ereng took up the 800 m in early 1988. Ereng was undefeated during the United States. outdoor season in early 1988.
But in the Kenyan Olympic trials, Ereng barely qualified for the Olympic team, finishing third.
Despite his rapid development, Ereng wasn"t seen as a potential gold medalist when he arrived at the Olympic Games in Seoul. In 1991, Ereng retained his world indoor title at Seville, but was only fourth in the World Championships at Tokyo.
Ereng never posed a serious threat in major international championships after that, and he was eliminated in the semi-finals at the 1992 Olympic Games. Ereng graduated from Virginia in 1993 with a bachelor"s degree in religious studies with a minor in sociology.
He owns a 50-acre (200,000 m2) farm in Kitale.
He subsequently took up a job as head cross country coach in the University of Texas at El Paso, the first Kenyan to take such a coaching job.