• The 28-year-old reckons he got his athletic prowess from his late father, who was a javelin thrower.
• His first disappointment as a professional, however, did not happen on the track. He was left out of a squad that was to travel to Ethiopia for the 2008 African Championships, a move he says was purely political.
Image: ERICK BARASA
Caleb Ndiku Mwangangi seems to be sitting pretty after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed as he seeks to return to the track at the biggest stage.
Having won numerous accolades in the 1,500m and 5,000m at both continental and global levels Ndiku is still thirsty for the elusive Olympic medal.
“I want that Olympic gold medal. That is what I am missing in my career,” he said.
The postponement, according to him, was complete blind luck as he had just resumed training with the competition being his sole focus.
The 28-year-old reckons he got his athletic prowess from his late father, who was a javelin thrower. However, it was his mother who saw the star in him long before others would and encouraged him to venture into the sport.
And even amidst discouragement and doubts during his formative years, and being taunted that people from Ukambani do not flourish in athletics, Ndiku pushed on to become a household name.
Starting as a basketball player at Kyanguli High School, Ndiku was encouraged by one of his school coaches to take up athletics and went on to represent the region at the national championships in 2007.
In 2008, he joined an athletics academy in Machakos, under the tutelage of his then coach Paul Mutwii, the Athletics Kenya vice president in charge of competitions. Due to his fervour for greatness, Ndiku ended up getting injured because of pushing himself too hard.
“I was pushing myself too hard yet my body could not handle it since I was still young,” he said.
His first disappointment as a professional athlete, however, did not happen on the track. He was left out of a squad that was to travel to Ethiopia for the 2008 African Championships, a move he says was purely political.
“I went back home and decided not to venture in athletics anymore. I even stopped training,” he said.
The disappointment, however, became his fuel ahead of the 2009 World Youth Championships in Brixen, Italy. With a point to prove, he outdid everyone in the qualifiers.
“I ran while angry and I knew I had to win to ensure that if they decide to cut me off again, they will be dropping the winner at the trials,” he said.
In Brixen, he ran 3:38.42 in the 1,500m race to win a silver medal, behind Gideon Mageka.
However, Ndiku could not hide his frustrations after missing out on the title and just broke down in tears after the medal ceremony.
“I went behind the podium and cried. Silver was not what I wanted,” he said.
In 2010, he ventured into a speciality that no one predicted he would dominate, cross country. However, he went on to win a gold medal in the junior race at the 2010 World Cross Country Championship in Poland, becoming the only such winner from his Ukambani region. He went on to win the 1500m title at the World Junoir Championships in Moncton, Canada in 2010, which earned him a contract with Nike.
‘The Buffalo’ as he is fondly referred to, due to his hands overhead celebrations, went on to win conquer All-Africa Games in 2011 and African Championships in 2012 in the 1,500m speciality.
In his concession, 2013 was the worst year of his career despite running 3:29.50, a personal best, in Monaco.
His goal was to qualify for the World Championships in Russia, which he did, but claims, he was unfairly left out.
But the best was yet to come as he won every possible race in 2014, clinching the 3,000m gold medal at the World Indoor Championships, 5,000m at the Commonwealth Games, 5,000m at African Championship and same race in Diamond League.
He also won the Continental Cup in 3,000m. His heroics saw him win the Safaricom Sports Person of the Year award.
Now he is keen to clinch the elusive Olympic title. He ran at the 2016 Olympics but finished a disappointing 18th because of a nagging back injury and left leg that has troubled him to date.
Ndiku is working on building a basketball court for the youth in Machakos, a sport he terms as his first love.
He plans to venture into coaching athletes when he retires but concedes his fate is not sealed until he douses his thirst for an Olympic medal.
Having come up against one of the best athletes in the world, Ndiku reveals the toughest runner he ever ran against was Bernard Lagat of the United States, terming him very technical.
And if the dreams of representing Kenya in the Olympics come to pass, the Buffalo reveals he will don his signature look of dying his hair. “Of course I will dye it. That is my brand,” he says.
And citing mental strength as his forte, he might as well pull one of the biggest comebacks in Kenya’s athletics.