ODM party leader Raila Odinga has mourned silver medalist Ben Jipcho.
The 1972 Munich Olympics 3000m steeplechase silver medalist passed away on Friday morning at an Eldoret hospital.
"With his family, we have been struggling with how to mourn Ben Jipcho since he passed yesterday," Raila said on Saturday.
"Most people knew him as a pioneer athlete who put Kenya on the path to athletics greatness. To me he was an athlete and more. Ben has been part of my political journey. "
Raila said Ben 77, was chair of both NDP and LDP in Mt. Elgon.
"We worked with the family to keep him alive, but God got his way. I have lost a hero and a comrade. My thoughts and prayers are with his family," he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta sent a message of condolence to Jipcho's friends and family, eulogising him as a national hero and pioneer athlete who helped cement Kenya's profile on the international stage as a top athletics nation.
The Head of State wished the family of the highly decorated Kenyan athlete God's comfort and peace as they mourn their departed patriarch.
Deputy President William Ruto eulogised Jipcho as a champion and one of Kenya’s athletics powerhouses.
Sports CS Amina Mohamed said Kenya has lost a formidable sportsman whose unrelenting pursuit of athletic excellence inspired Kenya’s generation of the greatest athletes on earth.
