Suleiman Nyambui

Nyambui (#649; far left),Yifter (#191), andMaaninka (#208) at the1980 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1953-02-13)February 13, 1953 (age 72) MajitaMusoma,Mara Region,Tanganyika Territory (nowTanzania)
Sport
Sport	Track
Event(s)	1500 metres,Mile,2-mile,5000 metres,10,000 metres,Marathon
College team	UTEP
Achievements and titles
Personalbest(s)	1500 metres: 3:35.8[1] Mile: 3:51.94[1] Indoor2-mile: 8:17.9[1] 5000 metres: 13:12.29[1] 10,000 metres: 27:51.73[1] Marathon: 2:09:52[1]
Medal record Representing Tanzania Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 5,000 metres All-Africa Games 1978 Algiers 5,000 metres

Suleiman Nyambui (born February 13, 1953) is a former track athlete fromTanzania who specialized in variouslong-distance disciplines. Nyambui won the bronze medal at the1978 All-Africa Games, the silver medal in5000 metres at the1980 Summer Olympics, and finished first at three consecutive marathons between 1987 and 1988. He holdsmultiple indoor national records of Tanzania in athletics.

Nyambui had dropped out of school after primary education. He became a fisherman inUkerewe District inMwanza Region, where his potential as a good athlete was spotted by the Region's Athletic Organization. The organization helped in his training and afforded him facilities and guidance in making him a national and international athlete. He also had joined the Tanzania National Service before he went to train as a teacher. He taught school atBukumbi (20 miles from Mwanza City) before moving to the United States to study for his bachelor's and master's degrees at theUniversity of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Then he took a contract to train Bahraini athletes along with Canadian coaches Craig Taylor and Greg Peters from 1996-1998. After that he moved back to Tanzania.

He attended UTEP from 1978 to 1982, where, as an older athlete (he was 29 when he graduated), he won four straight NCAA titles in the 10,000 meters, one of only five Division I men to ever accomplish such a feat, and the only Division I man to win four straight indoor 1 mile championships. He also won three straight NCAA titles in the 5,000 meters while at UTEP and was the 1980 NCAA Cross Country champion. In a memorableMillrose Games race in New York in February 1981, Nyambui broke the world indoor 5,000 meter record with a 13:20.4, just ahead ofAlberto Salazar who broke the American indoor 5,000 meter record.

Nyambui would go on to representTanzania in themen's 5000 metre race at the 1980 Summer Olympics, where he finished second behind onlyMiruts Yifter. After running shorter-distance races, Nyambui would go on to run several marathons, winning theBerlin Marathon on two occasions and theStockholm Marathon in 1988.

• sports-reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Henry Rono	Men's 5,000-m Best Year Performance 1979	Succeeded by Miruts Yifter

• USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
• 1953 births
• People from Mara Region
• Living people
• Tanzanian male long-distance runners
• Tanzanian male marathon runners
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
• Commonwealth Games competitors for Tanzania
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
• Olympic athletes for Tanzania
• Olympic silver medalists for Tanzania
• University of Texas at El Paso alumni
• UTEP Miners men's track and field athletes
• Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics
• Berlin Marathon male winners
• Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
• African Games bronze medalists for Tanzania
• African Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 All-Africa Games
• NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
• NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata