John Ngugi

Ngugi won five world cross-country titles, four in a row from 1986 to 1989 and another in 1992, and his tactic was simple and brutal: attack early, often within the first couple of kilometres, and dare the field to follow through the mud. It changed how the event was raced and began Kenya's long era of dominance. He also won Olympic 5,000m gold in Seoul; in 1993 he was banned for refusing an out-of-competition test, a sanction later reduced.