Samuel Tirop (born 13 January 1959 in Nandi District) is a former Kenyan middle-distance runner who ran in the 800 metres.

[2] As a result, he frequently missed out on major competitions due to the high calibre of opposition at the national level.

He won at the East and Central African Championships in 1989 and in December he managed second at the 1989 Kenyan Trials for the Commonwealth Games, running a personal best of 1:44.3 minutes which ranked him eleventh in the world that year.

[3][4] Largely unknown outside of his home nation, he went on to upset both Nixon Kiprotich and Sebastian Coe to win the 800 m at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.

[5] When asked how he had achieved such a feat at the age of 31 with little international experience, he responded that he was typically fourth or fifth at the Kenyan Championships behind World and Olympic champions for opposition.