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.