Hall of Fame
One of WSU’s most honored distance runners, Julius Korir captured the 1984 Olympic gold medal in the steeplechase and went on to become one of the greatest distance runners in Cougar history. Korir first stepped foot on the WSU campus in the winter of 1983 and immediately made a statement, capturing the Pacific-10 Conference steeple title as a freshman and was runner-up at the NCAA meet in the steeple and fifth over 5,000 meters. In the spring of 1984 Korir won every steeple race he entered until the final of the NCAA meet, where he finished second. He had even greater success that season in the 5,000m, winning every collegiate race, including the Pac-10 and NCAA titles. Later that summer, at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Korir blitzed the steeple field in taking home Kenya’s only gold medal. His winning time in the final ranked him second on the WSU, Pac-10 and collegiate list behind former Cougar and countryman Henry Rono. Prior to WSU Korir attended Kaptumo Secondary School in Kapsabet, Kenya and captured the 3000m steeplechase title at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
