Former world record holder dead: After his career he was temporarily homeless. Rono never competed in the Olympic Games.
He battled alcohol addiction for years and became homeless. “I went from a runner to a drunk and now I’m a runner again,” he told Sportinformationdienst (SID) in 2008. “After that, it either goes up again or you're dead.” Rono made the jump back then, and shortly after his 72nd birthday he died in a hospital in Kenya.