With the athletics world championships taking place in Helsinki this week, this is a time when we Kenyans can expect some positive mention of our country. Positive achievements by our fellow citizens to make us proud. Far away from the visa problems of ministers, corruption or the daily fighting in Kenyan politics.
Today, after day three of the championships, we are joint 15th in the medal standings with two bronze medals. Since quite a few medals have been awarded in technical disciplines like the heptathlon or high jump or in the 100m dash, our standings are not to worry. These are disciplines where we usually don't excel.
Our events are usally the long distance races like the 10'000m or "our" steeplechase. But even here, things are not as good as they used to be. Our main opposition traditionally comes from Ethiopia. The Ethiopians swept the women's 10'000m and took the gold and silver in the men's event, ahead of a Kenyan. Our other bronze medal came from the women's 3'000m steeple. The men's steeple has in the past been the only event where one could without a doubt predict the winner to come from Kenya. Let's hope it stays that way.
Our competition for medals is in future not going to only come from Ethiopia. Expect Gulf State countries like Qatar and Kuwait to challenge for medals in years to come. Unfortunately for us Kenyans, most of these athletes were born Kenyan and have only recently defected (and continue to) for money. This is probably one of the few times I agree with our president in his call on the athletes to put patriotism above all considerations, and resist the temptation to change citizenship for financial gain.
I believe that these athletes have a right to do what's right for them and their families. And I partly blame our government for not rewarding our athletes fairly, which makes it easier for them to be lured away by richer nations. Even though at the end of the day we couldn't keep up with the money these countries are throwing at our athletes, our government needs to do more.
At the same time, I'm also convinced that it's possible for these athletes to make "enough" money for them and their families to lead a fairly good life without necessarily having to change nationality. The money they can earn with good results during the normal athletics season and even at the big events like in Helsinki or in the olympics is still very good compared to the average Kenyan back home. But I guess it's safer to go with the Gulf states since with them the money comes even if the results are not the best. I can imagine it being very difficult to say no to a monthly wage of $5'000 and an additional $250'000 in the case of a world or olympic gold medal.
I hope that we can find a way of keeping our athletes happy so that they may continue to represent us the way the likes of Kipchoge Keino, John Ngugi or Moses Kiptanui did. But obviously, those were other times. Times when it was more about pure sports and there was less money involved.
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9 comments:
yeah man, times have changed, obviously. the time of pure sport, as you describe it, are over and this not only in the athletics world but also in almost every other sport. this trend is enormously regrettable, event though there are also some positive aspects. yes, it's a very controversial debate...
i entirely support your concern about the recently fullfilled changes in citizenship, this development has to be stopped immediately.
but as far as i know, the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) changed its rules and athletes now have a waiting period of 3 years, before they can start for a new country.
i hope that these adapted rules are really and strictly enforced in the future...
good luck for the men's steeple - i'll keep my fingers crossed...
it was a sorry sight yesterday seeing the strange purple/white colors draped across Cherono ... ooops sorry Said Shaheen shoulders . the continued negligence by the govt will eventually lead to the year when the kenyan flag will no longer be visible at these showcases
3000 meter Steeple. Kenya, Kenya, Kenya....Qatar? Was Qatar, ist doch ein Kenyaner?!? Und immer wieder ist es das Geld. Ich hab mich gefragt ob Shaheen wirklich mit der Qatar Fahne auf die Ehrenrunde wollte oder doch lieber mit der kenyanischen? Aber in dem Moment spielte es wohl keine Rolle mehr.
Ich hoffe auch, dass die Zeiten für eure Athleten wieder besser werden.
Kenya hat wenigstens gute Leichtathleten, kann man von der Schweiz nicht gerade behaupten. Da tröste ich mich, dass bald Bike-WM ist, da sollte die Schweiz besser abschneiden als in Helsinki ;-).
Danke, dass du Moses Kiptanui erwähnt hast, mein grosses Vorbild. Der zwar kleine aber trotzdem grosse (grösste) Mann des Laufsports.
Of course the hoped-for Kenyan success in the longer distance races has not come to pass, at least not under the flag. But even while the government has ignored runners and their needs, this is no different to its attitude to any other show of talent in the country. Even more to blame than the government is a public that has over the years taken athletes for granted. Where are the private foundations or companies using them in adverts or localities that come together to honour those who have supposedly done so well to fly our flag abroad? It is easy for us to moan about the government, but the fact is that the Kenyan public only wakes up to the existence of its athletic heroes every four years at the Olympics. I do not think we know how to deal with heroism and nationalism. We give it lip service alright, but many of us cannot link the Kenyan runner with themselves.
The championships are over and agree with me we are loosing it very fast and soon we will have no sport we can identify ourselve with.
The issue of defection should not come across here coz only Saif Shaheen got gold for Qatar the sole gold did you watch how the other defectors faired? terribly than us...
I tell you our problem is coaching, Agents and the Athletes themselves.. this week we have the Grand Prix in Zurich they are going to break records after the poor show in the world championships....
Lets hope they start to appreciate the country as their home first....
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