Olympic Games a great platform to market our country through sports

With the London Games just begun with much pomp and unique English flair, much of the attention is now focused on the athletes who will participate in the largest celebration of summer sports ever. However, one component that is increasingly getting deserved attention is the hospitality and marketing industry. Sports marketing and branding, in particular, is a hot topic with the Olympics.

But what does the Olympics represent that other sports events do not?

An interesting element to the Olympics is their unique ability to be multiple things to many people, sometimes in a contradictory way. They are globally focused with messages of peace and unity and yet are celebrations of national pride and diversity.

They are inclusive and participatory, celebrating all athletes who take part, but are also seen as the ultimate in sporting achievement for the winner. And the Olympics are seen as much more than just a sporting event but are also the ultimate in sporting events.

The Olympics are steeped in history and grew out of strong ideals, which remain an important part of the pageantry, soul and essence of what the Olympics are today. Sponsors who are able to attach themselves to and leverage against this property gain powerful differentiating factors in their marketing efforts.

There is also a tremendous opportunity for the sponsoring companies of the 2012 Games to be associated with the power and magic of the Olympics being held in a country that will capture the eyes of the world for the next few weeks.

In Kenya’s case, the London Olympics presents a potentially rare opportunity for Kenyan companies to draw a more intimate connection with the excitement and power of the Olympics. With the “Kenya House” at the Olympics, Kenya has the chance to position itself as a capable nation in a way that looks inviting to the world at large, from consumers to tourists to businesses.

The “Kenya House” is a hospitality / exhibition concept designed to market the country in major sporting events around the world. The objective is to provide a platform to its economical, sporting and cultural partners to network within the framework of an internationally significant sporting event.

The idea is to showcase and promote the best of Kenya in London. Other than a venue for Kenyan fans to get together to interact and celebrate our Kenyan athletes, it will host the general public, international visitors, the Olympic team, officials and dignitaries. It is the ultimate venue to highlight our unique tourism products, wildlife, businesses, sporting heritage, culture and hospitality in London for the next two weeks.

With a possible 10 million visitors from 208 countries for a period of three weeks, there isn’t a better opportunity for our country than this to attract tourists or gain corporate presence in front of the world.

Young talent showcased at the World Junior Championships

Year in year out, I am always amazed at the sheer talent pool and phenomenal performances that emerges from our Kenyan athletes. The recently ended World Junior Championships in Barcelona last week and Friday’s Samsung Diamond League in Monaco provided some sparkling moments on the track that indicate that Kenya will be firmly on the top of middle distance running for many year to come.

If there is an event that clearly defines Kenya’s dominance in the world of athletics, it is the 3000 meter steeplechase. Its complete domination at the Olympics and World Championships continues at the junior level where Kenya has an unbeaten gold medal winning streak since the onset of the championships.

If there ever is a clear indication that Kenya’s future in the steeplechase is secure for many years to come, it has come in the form of one very exciting young star. Conseslus Kipruto.

Last week in Barcelona, the 17 year old not only won the gold medal in the boys’ steeplechase, but broke the championship record by a massive eight seconds and won the race by over 100 meters.

And he wasn’t done showcasing his vast potential yet. A week later in the Samsung Diamond League in Monaco, he surprised the current world leader, Paul Kipsiele Koech, by outsprinting him to win his biggest professional race so far and improving his week old best by 2 seconds. 

Pretty heady stuff for a teenager!

And it was a good night for young Kenyan athletes in Monaco, most of who won’t be going to the London Olympics, displaying quality and depth in the middle distance events.

The newest young stars Abraham Rotich and Leonard Kosencha, who finished 1-2 in the highly entertaining 800 meters look capable of complementing Rudisha at the top in years to come, with a spirited battle that resulted in a national junior record in the event.

But the undoubtedly the highlight event of the Monaco Diamond League was the 1500m where Asbel Kiprop was looking to compete in his final tune-up before the Olympic Games.

This race was important for Kiprop as the last time he raced in June; the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 1,500 wasn't at his best. He barely survived the Kenyan Trials as he only edged into the top three in the last 100 meters to finish third and qualify to defend his Olympic title in London.

However, in Monaco, Kiprop was at his absolute finest. Kiprop surged to the lead just before the bell and never relinquished it as he looked a lot more impressive, easily striding away from the fast field over the last 100 and destroyed everyone over the final 50 meters, winning in a sensational 3:28.88 - thanks to a spectacular last lap - to become the fifth-fastest man in history.

Kiprop's instincts are all about running fast enough just to win and holding back until doing that. Hence, for years, in the absence of sub 3:30 competition, he was running times clearly below his ability, but winning. And now he seems to have lost some of his reserve and followed the rabbits closer, and the fast times have followed. 

For a long time, I've thought Asbel Kiprop was one of the greatest 1,500 runners ever but the strange thing is that he didn't have a fast time to his name. Now he does.

Kiprop is definitely the Olympic favorite and could follow Seb Coe, who is the head of the 2012 Olympics, as repeat Olympic champion and achieve legendary status in the event and sport.

With the Olympics commencing next Friday, the Diamond League aired by Zuku Sports takes a break and will resume in Stockholm, Sweden next month.

Peaking at the right time crucial for London bound athletes

The races between the trials and the Olympics usually dictate the form-chart in many of the events and usually someone’s chances for gold. Therefore this past Friday’s Samsung Diamond League event in Paris was a good indicator of a number of athletes ’fitness levels based on some stirring performances in the run up to the London Olympics later this month.

The event’s biggest news was the much hyped world record attempt by David Rudisha in the 800 meters. Rudisha has been peerless this season and his spectacular times indicated that he was ready to challenge this own world record. But it was not to be this time in Paris, having been let down slightly by this pacemaker. Still, he produced a new world leader just a half second away from the record.

So good was his effort that it really wasn’t a race, rather a battle for second for the rest of the field trailing a whopping four seconds back!

As much as it would have been desirable to go to the Olympics with the World record in the bag, just missing it by a few steps will keep him hungry for it going forward and he can now focus on the important business of winning the Olympics title and then running faster once that’s done.

Nonetheless, Rudisha is a clear favorite for gold in London and like the defending 3000 meter steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto, peaking when it matters most.

Despite 2012 world leader Paul Kipsiele Koech getting his third Diamond League win of the season in the 3000m steeplechase, that result didn’t really count for much as he isn’t going to the Olympics due to his 7^th place showing at the Trials.

Kipruto, who finished second to Koech, is the guy to look for come the Olympics. He's proven himself at the highest level before, having been World Champion in 2007 and the Olympics in 2008 and has improved by about 25 seconds since May.

Ensuring you peak at the right time in athletics is an art form. You rely on your coach and your training programme, that it's been planned out and that you execute it in the way that you intended.

In an Olympic year there are two aspects to that, depending on what sort of athlete you are.

A lot of athletes have this 'double peak', first for the trial and then for the main event. So you have to turn up to the trial in good shape. The difficulty is peaking for the trial, and then having to peak again five weeks later for your Olympics.

Some people can hold onto their top form for four or five weeks, some people have it come and go very quickly.

What you hope for at the trials and the Games is that psychologically you hit a peak and that extra sense of occasion takes you up onto another level which you physically haven't had to produce up to that point. That's what the great athletes like Rudisha and Kipruto can do.

These few Diamond League events coming up are the perfect races to fine-tune fitness levels in readiness for the Olympics. Look out for top Kenyan athletes as they compete in the next leg of the Samsung Diamond League event at the Aviva London Grand Prix next week televised on Zuku Sports.

Kemboi's domestic tribulations

By now most of you have heard of the very unfortunate legal and domestic tribulations of the world top steeplechase athlete on the forefront of national news coverage. That piece of negative news wasn’t the ideal way to follow up on a highly successful Olympic Trials event last weekend. News that Olympic  and World 3000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi landed in court on Thursday after being charged with allegedly assaulting a female companion in Eldoret.

I and I’m sure, numerous other sports fans world-wide, were extremely disappointed to hear of Kemboi’s shocking brush with the law.   It was upsetting to see one of the most exciting athletes this country has ever produced, sitting in the dock accused of very serious allegations at a critical time in the athletics calendar.

The timing just couldn’t be any worse. With the London Olympics looming in less than a month, this is a key period of preparation given that Kemboi was selected for that team after finishing 2^nd in the Trials last Saturday. This crucial period is where focus and mental preparation takes center stage in the lead up to the biggest event of an athlete’s career. Any major distraction or negative circumstance is bound to affect performance.

Kemboi’s case is an isolated one and as we wait for the courts to sort that out, we can’t allow these types of isolated incidents to cloud the image of our amazing athletics country as it prepares for London. The majority of our Kenyan athletes are renowned for their discipline and are fundamentally decent people.

I do not want to speculate on Kemboi’s fate or the unfortunate circumstances he finds himself in, I’d like to see him focus on preparing for the biggest show. A master performer and entertainer on the track for about a decade now, London should be his last hurrah on an amazing career.

This Kemboi incident, whether found guilty or not, illustrates the simple fact that athletes professional athletes must understand– regardless of sport, notoriety – are public figures that don’t only represent themselves. They’re role-models, larger-than-life figures that represent their team, family, sponsors and profession.

It is a lesson to many athletes not to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Personal brands that have meticulously built over the years are destroyed with one such incident.

That’s why every time an athlete has a brush with the law; the repercussions are extensive and unforgiving.