Kenyan athletics provide reason to smile in gloomy Covid-19 season

The year 2020 will forever remain unique for the sports sector world over due to the disruptions occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Most sportspersons had to stop doing what they love most as activities ground to a halt as countries imposed punitive measures to stop the contagion. 

In Kenya, many pitches resembled graveyards with an eerie of silence, which reined as fans and players remained starved of action for months. 

Overall, the situation around the country was sombre as the infections continued to soar, deaths rose and millions rendered jobless. 

But Kenyan athletics was crucial in salvaging what is being considered by many as a wasted year.

The successful hosting of Africa’s first major sporting event in the Covid-19 period, smashing of world records by local athletes and global recognition by World Athletics are some of the reasons that Kenyans can smile and look forward to 2021 with optimism. 

Against a backdrop of pessimism, Athletics Kenya successfully hosted the — the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold at the Nyayo Stadium on October 3. 

Better known as the Kip Keino Classic, the event brought together over 100 athletes from around the globe, competing in various track and field disciplines. 

Although a restricted number of fans were allowed into the 30,000-seater stadium, the carnival mood that permeated the atmosphere made it feel as if it was packed to capacity. 

In light of the circumstances under which the event was organised, the local organising committee deserves a pat on the back for meticulous planning and execution to ensure the event did not go the way of other sporting events worldwide that later turned out to be super-spreaders of the devastating pandemic. 

Apart from restricted fans, security officers and marshals at the stadium were hawk-eyed to ensure that Covid-19 prevention protocols were adhered to. 

On the track, it was entertainment galore as local athletes gratified the crowd's appetite for entertainment through exceptional performances. 

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot and world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri were some of the standout performers in the Day One of the event. 

Logistically, Kip Keino Classic added to Kenya’s burgeoning reputation as a destination for major sporting events. 

The success of the event instils confidence in athletics stakeholders — more so foreign athletes — that Kenya is ready to host next year’s World Under-20 Championship at Moi Stadium, Kasarani. 

“We know that the Kenyan fans are passionate about our sport and will create a great atmosphere for the athletes at both the Kip Keino Classic and next year,” WA president Sebastian Coe said in his programme notes. 

Pride of Kenya 

Despite the challenges, the years turned out rosy for the likes of Kibiwott Kandie, who smashed the half marathon world record at the Valencia Marathon on December 6. 

His time of 57:32, bettering Geoffrey Kamworor’s previous record of 58:01, is a reward for a man who has been compared to marathon great Paul Tergat. 

“I have admired Paul Tergat for a very long time and to be compared to him is something that just motivates me. I want to reach the heights that he reached by bettering my performances,” Kandie says. 

His victory in the city of science and arts is sweeter considering the fact that he has been entangled in a track rivalry with Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo. 

At the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland in October, Kandie lost the world crown to Kiplimo. 

A year earlier, Kiplimo had narrowly lost to Kandie at the São Silvestre race in São Paulo, Brazil.  Considering that both are yet to hit their peak, their rivalry is one to watch in the coming years. 

Regardless, Kandie is a man with lofty ambitions and unperturbed by the prospect of a strong rival breathing down his neck in his race for glory. 

“I want to do more than I have done this year. I am targeting the Tokoy 2020 Olympics,” Kandie says. 

In the women’s category, world half marathon record holder Peres Jepchirchir has enjoyed a stellar year. 

In September, Jepchirchir broke the world record at the Prague World Half Marathon in 1:05:34. 

A month later, she broke her own record in Gdynia, Poland where she clocked 1:05:16 to claim the World Half Marathon individual title. 

As if that was not enough, Jepchirchir capped off the year with a win at the Valencia Marathon, setting a personal best and course record time of 2:17:16. 

Just like Kandie, Jepchirchir hopes to join Team Kenya as one of the country’s representatives at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

On the strength of her performances, hers is a case of ‘give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’— she has earned the right to fly the country’s flag in Asia. 

“When I transitioned to full marathon, my target was to run 2:18 but I thank God He enabled me to clock 2:17. I was running this race with my eyes on next year's Olympics," she says. 

The year was also an opportunity for unknown names to catapult themselves to world acclaim.

At the Valencia Marathon, Evans Chebet upset the formbook to win the 42km race ahead of pre-race favourites like Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono. 

His win has whetted his appetite for more glory as he looks forward to next year with relish. 

"We are discussing with my coach on the races to participate in next year and how to prepare for them. There will be so many marathons next year but one of my biggest targets is the London Marathon," Chebet says. 

Before the London Marathon in October, the 2019 Amsterdam Marathon winner Vincent Kipchumba was an unknown to many in and outside of Kenya with attention centred on Olympics and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and his Ethiopian rival Kenenisa Bekele. 

However, Bekele's withdrawal from the race and Kipchoge's subsequent faltering allowed Kipchumba to salvage Kenya's pride by finishing just a second behind the winner, Ethiopia's Shura Kitata, in 2:05:42. 

Setbacks 

Sadly, doping continues to rear its ugly head with several athletes either fined or banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit. 

Pacesetter Alex Korio, Patrick Siele, Wilson Kipsang and Elijah Manang'oi have had a year to forget as the wrath of AIU fell hard on them for whereabout failure.

This violation occurs when an athlete fails to avail themselves for a random doping test at a designated location and time as indicated in the anti-doping administration management system — ADAMS. 

It is an issue that has left stakeholders — more so Athletics Kenya — scratching their heads on how to eradicate it so that athletes' careers are not cut short by schoolboy blunders. 

"We have tried talking to the athletes to educate them on the dangers of whereabout violations. We will continue to enlighten them on the same," AK president Jackson Tuwei says.

Tuwei further admits that doping will be a major threat to Kenya's reputation, hence the need to uproot it before it mushrooms into an invincible problem. 

Part of efforts to eliminate doping has been awareness campaigns targeting upcoming athletes at the grassroots.

At the beginning of December, AK teamed up with AIU to conduct a series of character development workshops with young athletes in Kitale, Eldoret, Kericho, Nakuru and Nairobi. 

"We are targeting young athletes because many of them rely on their role models to know what to do with their careers. The problem is that some of these role models are not really good role models because of the way that they live with their lives. Educating these young ones ensures that they are better equipped to make wise career decisions," youth coach Robert Ngisirei says. 

For all their hard work, however, it was disheartening that AK lost the World Athletics Federation of the Year award to Poland. To rub salt into the wound, Jepchirchir — who had been nominated for the Female Athlete of the Year award — lost to world triple-jump champion, Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas. 

AK also conducted 70th-anniversary celebrations, bringing both the young and veteran runners of the yesteryears in a colourful event at the Nyayo Stadium.

In a festive season where thanksgiving is a central theme, the celebrations — held on December 15 — was a reminder of how far and wide the sport has grown in the country ever since the first Kenyan team travelled by ship to the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada, which took a whole month.

It was also a meeting with the reality that the current crop of athletes have a huge burden on their shoulders to produce more sporting moments that the future generations will be savouring in the next 30, 50 or even 70 years. 

At an individual level, Eliud Kipchoge will be hoping that 2021 will be a repeat of 2019 when he became the first man to run a full marathon under 1:59:00. 

Tuwei acknowledged the devastating impact of the pandemic but also encouraged stakeholders to harness valuable lessons for the future. 

"This year has been difficult owing to the Covid-19 pandemic but we hope next year will be more lenient. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and Covid-19 has taught us to always look at both sides of the coin. I want to urge the youngsters here today to embrace education as a fall-back plan in case such situations arise and upon retirement," Tuwei said during the celebrations.

The new year 

The new year will be similarly busy for Kenyan athletics, with the World Under-20 Championships and the Olympic Games taking the lead role. 

Already, stakeholders have laid the groundwork for the Under-20 showpiece, which was initially set for July this year. 

In addition, next year could see Kenya send more representatives to world mountain running events after successfully staging two events in Meru (February) and Naivasha (November). 

Locally, mountain running will feature prominently in AK's calendar as Bomet, Nandi Hills, Taita Hills and Nyamira gear up to welcome hundreds of athletes interested in pushing their endurance to the limit. 

However, focus will be on the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics where the desire of all will be to better Team Kenya's performance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. 

Add to the international marathons lined up and many Kenyan athletes will be absolutely licking their lips in anticipation of a fruitful year.

May the upcoming year indeed a be an upgrade on 2020, during which Kenyan athletics will continue to be a source of joy and bliss.