Post Olympic Diamond League events

The races after the Olympics usually serve two purposes for the athletes competing. Some seek to cash in on their Olympic glory and prove that their medals were no flukes, while others seek redemption after poor performances and look to upstage the medalists.

Many athletes were coming off Olympic hangovers in Stockholm last week hence the not so exciting edition of this year’s DN Galan. However this week, various athletes were primed and ready to go in the subsequent stop-over of the Samsung Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland, a renowned track for fast times in the sprint races and ideal conditions for great racing in the middle distances too.

It was a great night out for Kenyan athletes with four wins in this high quality competition, bringing some joy after a tough Olympic expedition.

Kenyan athletes looked much fresher and motivated on the track this time round, looking to salvage what is left of the season with some good performances.

The Kenyan 1500m duo of Silas Kiplagat and Nixon Chepseba had disappointing finishes at the Olympics but bounced back in a fast time trial-type setting that they typically thrive under. Kiplagat returned to his winning ways defeating a mostly Kenyan field with Chepseba in 4^thplace. No surprises there!

Paul Kipsiele Koech missed out on the Olympics altogether and was keen show that he was king in these types of races, winning again in a top class time and more importantly, confirming the overall Diamond League crown for the event. London bronze medalist Abel Mutai, however, finished out of the podium places this time round.

Pamela Jelimo looked every bit of her former winning self, sprightly dispatching the Russian Olympic champion Mariya Savinova in the women’s 800 meters, begging the question as to why she didn’t utilize the same tactics in the London final.

Mercy Cherono showed exceptional form in the women’s 3000 meters to continue her winning streak at this event from the Monaco leg last month. Cherono is quickly emerging as an athlete to watch as she’s made a rapid and successful transition from junior to the senior ranks.

With the Samsung Diamond League action, aired on Zuku Sport, continuing this weekend in Birmingham and Zurich next Thursday, a number of Kenya’s stars will be racing as the season comes to a close.

Look out for exciting battles in the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix today where World champion Vivian Cheruiyot meets fellow London medalist Sally Kipyego and the on-form Mercy Cherono in the women’s 3000 meters.

In the men’s1500 meters, Silas Kiplagat and Nixon Chepseba get another opportunity to improve their standing against what is largely the same field as the one they faced in Lausanne, so look out for another sizzling run by the Kenyans.

Thursday’s Zurich event is generally considered as one of the top Diamond League events of the circuit due to its rich history, amazing atmosphere and big paydays. Its location as the Swiss capital of finance enhances its prestige even further.

One of my favorite racing venues in Europe, Zurich is one of the ideal environments for world record conquests and this year we could see the most recent record lowered further with the return of David Rudisha, the hero of the London Olympics, to the track.

In what should be the highlight of the meeting, Rudisha will run the 800 meters, this time a little fresher, with the assistance of a pacemaker, determined to be the first man under 100 second in the event. A very exciting prospect indeed!

Post Olympic celebrations

The curtain may have come down on what has been hailed as the 'best ever' Games, but the celebrations are far from over as fans across the globe came out in their thousands to welcome home their 2012 Olympic heroes.

From the Champs-Elysees in Paris, Entebbe airport in Uganda to Piarco in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, the world's sporting stars have been met with incredible scenes as supporters in their home nations flooded airports and city streets to honour their athletes' achievements at the London Games.

Athletes disembarking from their flights from London were showered with petals, mobbed by autograph hunters, met by Government dignitaries and some cases, presented with new houses and a cheque for huge sums of money. 

Our Kenyan team celebrations were however a bit subdued after a not so great Olympic experience. One of our two Olympic champions slipped into the country soon after his race without much fanfare while the other is still in Europe competing in races.

Usually after a successful championship outing, upon return our athletes are usually decorated with flower garlands and kikois, given a sip of traditional sour milk (Mursik) from a gourd amidst cheers and ululations from hundreds of jubilant city residents and troupes of traditional dancers. 

I can only imagine the welcoming party for world record holder David Rudisha when he arrives back in Kenya from his amazing season. His hometown of Kilgoris, I am sure, will be abuzz at the arrival of their greatest son and we can expect massive parties in his honour.

The Ugandans, however, topped us on Olympic celebrations this time round. Their marathoner, Stephen Kiprotich, who won the nation's first Olympics gold medal in 40 years returned home to a hero's welcome and a large cash award from the President.

Throngs flooded the airport to honour Kiprotich, whose win sparked fierce pride and excitement in the East African nation that won its last gold medal in the Munich Games in 1972. Apart from the cash and promises of a house to be built for his parents, Kiprotich had the Ugandan parliament hold a special session in his honor and a motion seeking to have the athlete declared a national hero.

Other African countries also feted their medal winning athletes with cash upon their return from London.  South African runner Caster Semenya was presented with a huge cheque after her silver medal achievement by the South African Sports Olympic Committee, who also gave awards to all of the country's medal winners.

The Ethiopians usually come out in their hundreds of thousands to receive their athletes from their Olympic triumphs and this year was no different.

Olympic javelin champion Keshorn Walcott was promised the probably the largest cash amount for any Olympic champion when he landed in Trinidad and Tobago, along with a luxury home and roughly 20,000 square feet of land near his hometown.

His proud home nation is even planning to name a lighthouse and a Caribbean Airlines plane after the 19-year-old champion. Monday was named a national holiday in honour of Walcott as the country’s Prime Minister lavished him with gifts and praise as thousands of fans white arrived at Piarco International Airport to greet the young athlete.

The Dutch Olympic team was celebrated in a spectacular way back at home by standing on a stage created to look like a gold medal as crowds cheered. The French Olympic athletes too celebrated on board double decker buses that paraded through the streets of Paris, to the delight of flag-waving crowds.

As for Olympic champions still competing in the Samsung Diamond League events such as Friday’s DN Galan event in Stockholm, Sweden aired by Zuku Sport, special parades in luxury cars around the track will be a common honor before the races.

Poor show by Kenya team at London Olympics despite spectacular effort by Rudisha

The London Olympics have once again proven that the Olympic Games are the ultimate sporting event in providing thrills and disappointments in equal measure.  If there’s one thing you can be sure of the Olympics is its penchant for surprises. None more so for Team Kenya, who going into these Games, who had very high expectations of its members based on their quality and performances.

The real gem of Kenyan athletics is its high standards. Anything less than a gold medal in a championship is considered failure. We are a nation accustomed to winning in any athletics championship.

Therefore, the uproar over some of the dismal and less than satisfactory performances can be justified by Kenyans and fans of Kenya around the world. All the form charts indicated good tidings for our athletes prior to the Games and predictions of several gold medals.

However, once the athletics programme begun, cracks begun to emerge in Kenya’s shield of invincibility. Tales of poor management, overconfidence, injuries stemming from overtraining and the clear fact that some of our rivals were better prepared and utilized tactics far superior than ours.

In the men’s 10,000 meters, the much hyped and alternative selection process that Athletics Kenya bandied about to try and bring back the gold after 44 years, fell flat on its face. The result was probably Kenya’s worst performance at the Olympics where our men were simply not on the same level as some of the medalists who came from unlikely quarters. 

All the noise about having the best selections in the US and the best we could do was 5^thplace!

The reality of that situation was that Kenya didn’t have an individual who possessed the right tools and mental strength that could beat the Brit and Ethiopians on his best day, no matter where the team was selected.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the London Olympics for Kenya had to be of the men’s 1500 meters.  Given the trio’s pedigree coming into the games, expectations were sky high of a possible sweep of the medals. However it was a disastrous affair, with outgoing Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop nursing an injury that hobbled him off to last place. The other two didn’t dictate their own terms in the race and finished well away from the medals.

Possibly why these athletes underachieved in the race could be attributed to over-training prior to the Games as they lacked the spark and confidence exhibited in previous races.

As of the last day of the Games, Kenya has only 2 gold medals courtesy of Ezekiel Kemboi and David Rudisha. Two medals that were, without doubt, sure bets for Kenya.

However, historically Kenya’s performances in Olympic venues based in Europe always yielded a maximum of 2 gold medals and consistently low total medal tallies, so in a way London’s medal count shouldn’t be all that surprising.

Usain Bolt provided the defining moments of the Beijing 2008 Games, but David Rudisha’s spectacular run in the 800 meters has to be the London Games’ most significant highlight.

While his gold medal quest was never in doubt, it was the manner that he achieved it that stunned and mesmerized the world. Rudisha incredibly broke his own world record by leading the entire way and in the process dictating what was the best ever 800 meter race in history, with all but one running their best ever times.

Rudisha may be one of several gold medalists for Kenya in Olympic history, but his 100 second world record in London sets him apart from the rest and will be immortalized for that special achievement.

Ezekiel Kemboi’s victory in Kenya’s traditional event, the 3000 meter steeplechase, was almost expected given our strong heritage at this event in the Olympics. Kemboi’s win made it eight in a row and a total of 10 ever at the Olympics for Kenya solidifying our dominance at this event.

An unfortunate fall by defending champion Brimin Kipruto 700 meters out, had major implications on the outcome as it could been another clean sweep of the medals or a different Kenyan winner.

Nonetheless, Kemboi’s win and his subsequent exuberant celebrations confirmed his legendary status in the event as he became the event and Kenya’s first repeat winner at the Olympics.

A big step for Kenya at the London Olympics was achieved by Julius Yego in the men’s Javelin. Yego a recent entrant in the field event, has proved to be the revelation of the team by making it to the very competitive final and breaking his national record in the process. With that achievement, he has paved the way and shown that it is possible, with hard work, belief and support, for many other talented field event performers in Kenya to reach the highest levels.

With these very few highlights, tough questions will, no doubt, be asked of the Games management team on their arrival from London from an increasingly knowledgeable sporting public on the how and why of the below-par results of our London team were realized. 

More importantly, what lessons to be learnt from this less than stellar Olympic experience in order for Team Kenya to shine again in future Games.

Now that Olympics are over, top athletics action continues with the resumption of the Diamond League series in Stockholm, Sweden next week on Zuku Sports.

Kenya's Olympic Gold rush begins in London

The 30^th Olympiad is here and with the athletics action just begun; this is Kenya’s moment to shine. The London Olympics so far have been tremendous with plenty of exciting competitions and performances that have kept spectators and viewers around the world mesmerized. All indications are that there will be some quick times produced given the super fast track surface at the Olympic stadium.

These Olympics have been good to sports fans in sub-Saharan Africa in a way never been seen before as all events will be streamed live in high definition on YouTube. This development is exciting as in many regions; people will have access to a level of coverage that has never been available at all before on computers, phones and tablets. 

Kenya’s presence at these Olympics is powerful. Coming from a very successful Beijing Olympics where we won 6 gold and a total of fifteen medals, everyone expects this team to exceed that tally. And with good reason! The caliber and quality of this team is exceedingly good.

My predictions for Team Kenya in London are 8 gold medals and a total of 16 medals.

For the first time ever, the Kenyan women won 2 medals in the 10,000 meters setting the stage for even more medals to come in the next few days. Pre-race favorite Vivian Cheruiyot did well to run her fastest time ever, but was no match to probably the greatest female 10,000 meter runner ever, Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia.

Dibaba at her best was always going to be tough to beat and despite the best efforts of Sally Kipyego, who had the surprise performance of the night to win silver, was peerless and defended her title with ease.

The Kenyan Ethiopian rivalry at the long distance events continues with our northern neighbours holding the edge after a Kenyan advantage at the previous World Championships.

The London Games presents Kenya with four opportunities to defend titles from Beijing. This occasion is very important for Asbel Kiprop in the 1500 metres, Brimin Kipruto and Ezekiel Kemboi in the 3000 metres steeplechase and Pamela Jelimo in the women’s 800 metres as it would gain them legendary status in Kenyan athletics history. No Kenyan athlete has won their event twice in the Olympics and these four stars have this rare chance to stand out with this kind of achievement in London.

One of the most exciting events of the Athletics programme is the 1500 meters. The heats of the men’s 1500m inevitably attracted great interest as Kenya paraded the three top athletes in the world who could take home the first Olympic 1500m medal sweep in 104 years.

Asbel Kiprop, the defending champion and world leader, is a particularly solid bet to repeat given his performance in Monaco in late July where the performance he displayed clearly made him the man to beat in London. Kiprop looks fully prepared for any pace the race might throw at him – fast or slow. Should he succeed, he’ll become only the second man to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event ever.

Nixon Chepseba the third fastest of the Kenyan trio almost didn’t make it through the heats as he was tripped from behind  and briefly lost his balance and eventual rhythm to miss out on the automatic spots. He was reinstated following an appeal and should make good that reprieve to show his quality at the final.

The 3000 meter steeplechase final tonight represents an opportunity for Kenya to extend its winning streak in the Olympics to eight since 1984 and a total of ten since 1968. With two Olympic champions in the team, the question isn’t who among these will win, rather will Kenya gain its third triple medal haul in this event?

Team Kenya’s gold rush continues.