He is none other than William Yiampoy, African champion over 800m in 2004 and bronze medalist over the same distance at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Did you know that the current head of the President’s Escort Unit is a celebrated athlete?
If you didn’t know, now you know.
He is none other than William Yiampoy, African champion over 800m in 2004 and bronze medalist over the same distance at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Born in 1974 and recruited into the Kenya Police in 1991, Yiampoy took up running in 1996, eventually earning a slot to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia as a replacement for Patrick Konchellah.
Yiampoy would be eliminated at the semifinal stage after clocking a time of 1 minute 45.88 seconds.
This would be followed by a fourth place finish at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada where he timed 1 minute 44.96 seconds in a race won by Switzerland’s Andre Buche in 1:43.70 as Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei settled for silver in 1: 44.55.
The following year, 2002, saw Yiampoy win silver at the African championships in Rades, Tunisia before setting his personal best time of 1 minute 42.91 seconds in September of that year.
He would then win the African title in 2004 in Brazzaville, Congo before his bronze medal in Finland the following year.
Long retired from athletics, Yiampoy has worked his way up the ranks of the National Police Service, rising through the ranks to the post of Assistant Inspector General of Police.
He leads this elite squad that is tasked with ensuring the President of the Republic of Kenya’s seamless movement across the country.