Sunday, September 11, 2011

Kenya's Daegu success


It seems that Asia has a certain positive appeal for Kenya’s national athletics team given its dominance whenever a major championship is held there. The performances of Kenya’s athletes at the ’88 Seoul Olympics, ’07 Osaka World Championships, 08’ Beijing Olympics and this year’s Daegu World Championships attest to that fact.

Daegu was by far Kenya’s best ever global championships with our athletes winning 7 gold medals and accumulating a total of 17 medals. In doing so, the team exhibited some amazing performances that proved that we are solidly a global athletics super power finishing 3rd overall behind the USA and Russia.

For the 1st time ever, three of our athletes defended their titles from the previous championships, one athlete successfully completed a double win, and our athletes went 1-2 in 6 different events in the middle and long distance events. These statistics show how amazing Kenyan athletes are dominant on the world stage in the middle and long distance events.

Perhaps the most positive outcome of these Daegu championships has been the showcase of dominance by our women. For the first time in any major championship, the Kenyan ladies have stolen the limelight from the men. With a total of 8 out of 9 possible medals from the distance events and another 2 in the middle distances, their performance is unparalleled in World Championships history.

Edna Kiplagat started off Kenya’s golden week with a tremendous run in the marathon leading the women to a first ever clean sweep of the medals.  Our female marathoners were eager to prove that they are indeed the best going by their exemplary record in the big city marathons.

Vivian Cheruiyot, as many would agree, was simply fabulous! In becoming the first Kenyan woman to win double gold medals in the distance events in a World Championships and successfully defend her title from Berlin, she displayed remarkable self confidence and total dominance not seen in a while. Cheruiyot had an astounding championship!

Clearly on her way to assuming legendary status as queen of the 5000 metres, she now only has the Olympic title to chase after. Now after discovering her potential at the longer distance, she can choose whichever distance to run in London 2012. After her exploits in Daegu, I don’t see anyone standing in her way if she maintains the hunger for success going.

There’s nothing more exciting for our nation like the dominance of the 3000m steeplechase. Kenya once again proved why it is the most successful nation in that single event in championship history. Kenya has won this event consistently since 1991! So much so that we have come to expect it every time.

Ezekiel Kemboi, this year’s winner and defending champion, produced a remarkable finish, in a slow race totally suited to his style, to lead his teammate to 1-2 finish. In winning his third global title, Kemboi lays claim to being one of the greatest championships steepler ever. Showing incredible consistency, he has been winning championship medals since 2002 and has more World / Olympic medals than anyone else!

Kemboi has a certain exuberance and bravado about him going by his celebration after his win. He is one of the most entertaining athletes on the global scene often drawing attention to himself and delivering the goods with style.

The men’s 800m final was highly anticipated with superstar David Rudisha finally striking his first global gold. With the result never in doubt, it was the manner that he would achieve it that fans wanted to witness. Rudisha has become such a dominant figure in his event that his competitors now just fight for the minor places.

Probably the most satisfying victory for Kenya at these championships had to be the first ever gold medal in the men’s 1500m. Asbel Kiprop finally lived up to his top billing and showed that he learnt his lessons well from previous tactical disappointments of Osaka ’07 and Berlin ’09 to execute his race plan perfectly. Pre-race favorite Silas Kiplagat who won the silver medal still had a strong accomplishment despite his lack of championship experience. These two athletes at only 22 years are the future of the event and with the right focus, could dominate it for years to come.

The men’s marathon was another showcase of dominance by defending champion Abel Kirui who won impressively by two and a half minutes over his compatriot Vincent Kipruto. Following his championship record performance in Berlin ’09, Kirui has proved to be the consummate championship performer and the ultimate ambassador for Kenyan marathoning given his jovial personality and big smile at the finish.

As much as these Daegu Games were a tremendous success, there is certainly room for improvement. In the men’s 5000 and 10,000m we missed out on medals for the first time in a long time. The quality of the athletes in those two events wasn’t as good as in previous years and it showed when it came down to the last lap sprint. These two distance events have been characterized by extremely fast last laps and athletes lacking that all important quality just don’t stand a chance of medaling.

The underachievement of our athletes in Daegu included the 3rd place finish of Milcah Chemos was a big upset given her dominance in the women’s 3000m steeplechase all season. The Olympic champion Nancy Lagat in the 1500m was obviously having an off year and didn’t make it to the final. Same as Daniel Kipchirchir Komen in the men’s 1500m who, for the third time of selection to the national team, still has never made a global final. My earlier justification for Nixon Chepseba’s inclusion to the Daegu squad over Komen now has been vindicated given his storming win over all the medalists in the Zurich Diamond League event this past Thursday.

So it’s back to the selection process. Extremely high standards have been set by this group of athletes and Athletics Kenya must select individuals capable of making it to the podium in the future. The wildcard system must be put to good use in selecting capable individuals who probably weren’t on top of their game at the trials. London 2012 is just 11 months away and we must work on our weaknesses if we expect to win more medals at the Olympics.

There were so many incredible stories and performances by our athletes at these championships. It is time for our athletes to ride on their successes to endorse local brands and become effective ambassadors of sport for the country.

Congratulations to all the athletes who have brought glory to Kenya in Daegu in its best ever championships.




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