Wilfred Kipkemboi Bungei (born July 24, 1980) is a Kenyan middle distance runner, who won the 800 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[1] He also won the World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Moscow 2006 over 800 metres where he defeated Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Olympic Champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy in the course of the race.
Bungei was ranked No.1 in the world over 800m in 2002 and 2003. He has a personal best of 1:42.34 minutes (Rieti 2002), thus being currently the fifth fastest runner in the history of the event. At the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton he won a silver medal over 800m, finishing behind Andre Bucher.
He graduated from Samoei High School in 1998. At the 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal. Bungei represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Bungei is from Kabirirsang, a village near Kapsabet. He is a second cousin to Kenyan-born Danish former athlete Wilson Kipketer. Bungei is based near Verona, Italy during track season. He is married to Priscah Bungei with two sons (as of 2008) [2].
He was part of the 4x800 m relay team who currently holds the world record.
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