Sports for peace

If there was a time in our country’s history that sports has had a greater role in unifying the country through its success in sport, it was in 2008. Since then, Kenya has had its peace back except for a tumultuous month in the Tana Delta not long ago. The potential links between sport and peace here in Kenya nonetheless, is powerful.

From international events to the grass roots, sport brings people together in a way that can cross boundaries and break down barriers, making the playing field a simple and often apolitical site for initiating contact between antagonistic groups. Consequently, sport can be an ideal forum for resuming social dialogue and bridging divides, highlighting the similarities between people and breaking down prejudices.

Many of the values associated with sport are relevant to conflict prevention and resolution and to peace building. Well organized activities teach participants respect for each other, honesty, empathy, the importance of having rules, effective communication and co-operation skills. These skills and values are all essential to both resolving conflict and preventing it from arising in the first place.

Sport can also serve as a positive means of interaction between communities, people and cultures, contributing to the maintenance of a dialogue between parties in open or latent conflict. The tradition of Olympic Truce, the longest lasting peace accord in history, demonstrates the international potential of sport for peace.

Now, more than ever, sports for peace events are needed locally to help to create a structured, constructive outlet for the people affected that is oriented toward peaceful resolution of aggression and tensions in conflict or post conflict situations.

There are two local sports events that strive to achieve these ideals in the most unique settings.

An initiative called the Laikipia Highland Games mooted five years ago by Kuki Gallmann, the Gallmann Memorial Foundation and the Rift Valley Trust was held yesterday to celebrate peace through sport for several local communities around the Laikipia Nature Conservancy.

The Laikipia Highland Games is unique in that it is held in the wild confines of the Conservancy and it encompasses both Western modern athletics and traditional tribal games. In keeping with the spirit of art, environment and sport, all common denominators, these Games aim to bridge differences across the tribal divide.

These games have become an exciting annual event and attract competitors from across the country, not only as a sporting event but as a tourist attraction.

The Tecla Loroupe Peace Run in Kapenguria through the Tecla Loroupe Peace Foundation has been in existence for 10 years now and has spread its wings to other parts of the country and across borders to spread the message of peace.

These sporting events do much to assist reconciliation and development of peace among warring communities. In the lead-up to the next elections, politicians from troubled communities would do well to ride on these forums to encourage the peace building, instead assuming that they are usurping their roles or stealing their thunder.

Exciting road racing season begins

The track and field season is now over and paves way for the road racing season. And what a season it is. Every weekend in this period, thousands of runners will pound the pavements and trails around the country. From challenging half-marathons in the wild, themed 10 km races to major city marathons, options abound for the elite athlete to the casual jogger.

The marathon and its complementary races have become an annual fixation for many aspiring athletes and recreational athletes alike with different goal sets. Remarkably, it is the participation that counts and the personal gratification of completing the distance no matter the placing. There is an incredible feeling sharing the road with people of different age groups, race and ability.

The marathon is beyond doubt one of the most difficult and attractive races in athletics. The inherent, resonant beauty of the classic distance manifests itself in many ways, and chief among these is that the marathon is perhaps more ethnically diverse than any other major world sport save for football.

However, Kenya’s dominance of the marathon in recent years is truly remarkable! We have produced countless winners of several marathons around the world both men and women and our depth in this event is astonishing.

No other country in the world has the quality or the depth that Kenya possesses in the marathon. In many ways, our distance supremacy is a symbol for everything that is great about the marathon. Our country is among the world's poorest, yet we continually produce runners who test the body's physical limits and the mind's imagination.

So, it is exciting that the 2nd half of the major marathon season is upon us and the excitement and anticipation of seeing the biggest marathons in the world unfold is here.

All over Europe and the US, big cities are hosting marathons that provide the venues for our athletes to excel. The most famous ones this autumn are Chicago, Berlin, New York, Frankfurt, Beijing and Honolulu.

Locally, Ndakaini, Maasai Mara, Standard Chartered and Kass marathons are opportunities for upcoming athletes to test their mettle. I’m happy that the standard of local road races has improved and the quality and incentives now for the numerous local athletes are quite good that most do not have to seek foreign races to earn a living.

Athletics Kenya, while meaning well to regulate the road race events, ought to classify these local races rather than impose exorbitant fees across the board on events big and small.

Beyond providing athletes opportunities to earn a living or achieving physical goals, marathons are a huge catalyst for fundraising for good causes. Most major marathons and to a certain extent, our local marathons align themselves to a particular charity and raise funds from proceeds of their event.

Diamond League Finale

The Memorial Van Damme Meeting in Brussels is one of the most exciting events of the Samsung Diamond League series and thus it was fitting that it was the final stop of the sixteen meeting of this prestigious athletics series. Famed for its fast track and amazing stadium atmosphere, Brussels is the site for many top class performances in the middle and long distances.

More importantly, 15 Diamond League titles were to be decided at the Belgian capital after the final installment of 17 events last week in Zurich. Points for the top three per discipline in each of the 14 meetings in the series are added up and the winner in each gains $40,000 in prize money and a potential bye to next year’s IAAF World Championships.

It was another great night for Kenyan athletes with four winning overall event titles and one non-Diamond League race.

In a deep field that only had Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi missing, Brimin Kipruto took the win in the highly competitive 3000m steeplechase over his World Junior champion namesake Conseslus Kipruto. Paul Kipsiele Koech finished third but had already guaranteed the overall series win.

The men’s 1500 meters was a strong field that included the majority of the London finalists for the first time since the Olympics and was the decider for the overall Diamond title. Asbel Kiprop, the World number one, looked a completely different athlete to the one that finished last in London last month looked strong again but it was Silas Kiplagat, who came through in the sprint finish and won the close battle for the overall Diamond Race.
Brussels must rank as Pamela Jelimo’s favorite cities in the world athletics circuit. Four years ago, it was the venue of her huge jackpot win of the then Golden League series. This year she was in contention again for the Diamond League jackpot, albeit with a lot less cash on offer.
However, this time she was upset by a new young Burundian, Francine Niyonsaba, who incidentally mirrors her meteoric rise four years ago, finishing in second place. It was however enough to take the Diamond League title over Olympic Champion Mariya Savinova.
The battle for the final Diamond Race to be decided came right down to the wire, as Vivian Cheruiyot beat her only serious challenger for the prize in the 5000m, Mercy Cherono, into second on the last-lap burn up between the Kenyans and secured her third successive Diamond League title.
The men’s 10,000m was not a Diamond League event but as usual at this meeting produced one of the highlights. No one had run below 27 minutes, thanks mainly to a lack of paced races on the circuit, but Kenya’s Emmanuel Bett led four athletes under the barrier.

The final athletics event of the season is the Rieti event in Italy today. It promises to be exciting as athletes seek fast times to end this memorable season in grand style.

Zurich Diamond League and Post Olympic fatigue

The Samsung Diamond League events this week in Birmingham and Zurich have been largely characteristic of events after the Olympics where post Olympic fatigue seems to be fully in play.

The result is usually some drama and upsets due to mental and physical weariness of the athletes after a long an intense season.

This week’s Zurich Diamond League event didn’t disappoint, living up to its status as the best one day meeting in the world. Zurich is the most prestigious event of the Samsung Diamond League series because it gets the best athletes in the world. This meeting was unique in the sense that it was the final Diamond League meeting for half of the disciplines and $40,000 was on the line for the leaders in those events.

However, this year’s edition of the Weltklasse would probably be remembered for its share of drama and upsets in the middle and long distance events.

The big story was of course the shock defeat of David Rudisha in his first race after his historic run in the London Olympics.

With the high standards set from London, expectations were that Rudisha could try to batter his own world record again in Zurich given that he had recovered from his Olympic efforts. However, Rudisha wasn’t in his element this time due to the cold and wet conditions and a less than optimal pacemaker who left him out on his own and became vulnerable for the first time this season.

Rudisha went into Zurich on a 9 win streak and just like last season, had his streak broken by Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia at the very end of his season in similar weather conditions. This time however, Aman’s victory over Rudisha was a costly one with the Diamond League event title going the Ethiopian’s way.

 The bigger picture in the 800 meters however does not change because of this loss as we all know who owns this event.

The women’s 3000 meters steeplechase provided some drama from a Kenyan perspective when Diamond League leader Milcah Chemos, the favorite heading into the Olympics but left London without a medal, was trying to salvage her season with her second straight DL title. If she finished in the top 2, she was guaranteed the $40,000. She unfortunately tripped over a barrier in the penultimate lap, ending her chances of securing the overall event win.

Surprisingly, she was handed a lifeline when the race winner, Sophia Assefa from Ethiopia, was disqualified for stepping inside the track and Chemos was declared the event title winner.

The final Diamond League event of the season is the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme event in Brussels next Friday.