Rodgers Rop
Home: Kenya
Age: 26
Personal best: 2:09:51 (New York, 2001)

World record-holder at 25 kilometers, Rop set fire to European roads last year with a string of notable performances. In March 2001, Rop won the City-Pier-City Half-Marathon in the Netherlands in 62:12. A week later he set a personal-best half-marathon time of 60:57 with a third at Berlin. Rop's world record was set in early May at the Berlin 25K, where the strong Kenyan cruised to the tape in 1:13:44. Close on the heels of that win, Rop ran a personal-best 28:01 at The Hague 10K. In June, Rop set a course rec.ord and personal best at the Tilburg 10 Miler in the Netherlands, where his 45:56 was also the fastest 10-miler run in 2001. In the fall, Rop started with the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon, finishing seventh in 63:07.