Koech’s coach Claudio Berardelli says his talent could be comparable to that of his two biggest stars, marathoner Sabastian Sawe and Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi

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June 30, 2025

The results of the men’s 1500 meters at last week’s Meeting de Paris were so remarkable that it was hard to know where to begin. Every observation prompted a new question.

How did race winner Azeddine Habz, a 31-year-old Frenchman who has made one global 1500m final in his career, run 3:27.49 — a time bettered by just five men in history?

How did a field that featured just one man from last year’s Olympic 1500-meter final (ninth-placer Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands) produce one of the deepest 1500m races in history, with a record-breaking 13 men under 3:32?

And who the heck was Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech?

Before Friday’s race, Koech, an 18-year-old from Kenya, had run precisely one 1500-meter race in his entire life.

To that point, his most notable result had been a 5th-place finish in the 800 meters at last year’s World U20 championships in Peru. Which is to say, he was virtually anonymous when he stepped to the start line at Stade Charléty.

Less than four minutes later, Koech, who finished 2nd behind Habz, had become one of the ten fastest 1500 men in history.

His time of 3:27.72 took more than a second off Ronald Kwemoi‘s 11-year-old world U20 record of 3:28.81 and slotted him in at #9 on the all-time list, in between reigning Olympic champion Cole Hocker (3:27.65) and reigning world champion Josh Kerr (3:27.79).

It was a result that even the handful of insiders who had heard of Koech have struggled to process.

Two weeks earlier, in his first-ever 1500, Koech had run 3:32.26 at a low-key race in Lucca, Italy, winning by more than three seconds.

After that race, Koech’s Italian coach Claudio Berardelli had told Koech’s managers, Eric Lilot and Monica Pont, that he could run much faster with better competition.

“I told [them], if you can get him a better race, this boy might run probably 3:30 quite easily,” Berardelli said. “I wasn’t expecting 3:27.

The other night in Paris, this track is super fast, very good conditions, but still quite amazing. 

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what is the potential of this boy.”

In that, Berardelli is hardly alone.

A rapid rise

Koech was born in Kewapmwai, a village in Uasin Gishu County…..

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