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.

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.

Top class Trials show's Kenya's pedigree for London Olympics

Saturday’s Olympic Trials at Nyayo Stadium once again confirmed the quality inherent in Kenya athletics. The selection for London brought out Kenya’s best to battle for the few spots available and was a measuring stick on the state of athletics in Kenya. Events in Nyayo highlighted what we have at opposite ends of the sport - genuine world-class stars and strength in depth.

Outside of the Summer Games themselves, the Kenyan Olympic Track & Field Trials is one of the most anticipated athletics events. A top-three finish and an Olympic-qualifying time earn a spot in the London Games, which start July 27.

As usual, any athletics trials in Kenya can be difficult to predict as there are always surprises and upsets in some of the events.  What stood out at Nyayo yesterday was the generational change in some events. New blood is now making its way into the top cream of the sport which is exciting.

Youngsters in the men’s 800m, 1500m and 5000m represent the new hope for Kenya in these events at the London Olympics this year.

The selection system for the Olympics has however has garnered a lot of attention with Athletics Kenya trying a new and controversial method to select its men’s10, 000 meter team in the US early this month.

But Saturday’s Trials at Nyayo were much more straight-forward. The one-two-three selection process is cold-blooded but utterly fair, replacing the more complex discretionary arrangements and backroom politics that characterize the wildcard system.

While the trials were a good mix of experienced performers and new challengers, each event was unique in the way it played out. The tactics and the mind games used were fascinating, but mostly the cream rose to the top.

Experienced athletes David Rudisha, Brimin Kipruto, Pamela Jelimo and Vivian Cheruiyot exuded exceptional class and confidence doing enough to win their respective events and look like good bets for medals in Beijing.

The steeplechase was highly competitive as expected and any of the top five athletes could get a place on the podium. And so Paul Kipsiele Koech’s 7^th place was extremely unlucky considering that he has been the fastest in that event this year.

The steeple is of course the event that one could almost be guaranteed a medal once making the team.  But tellingly, it is the event that has had remarkable consistency in the past four years as the places have revolved around the same top four.

Now that the team has been unveiled, tough questions and high expectations will be asked of the squad to London. Are they capable of dealing with the resurgent Bekele and the home favorite Mo Farah in the 10,000m? Will we finally win gold in the women’s marathon? Can they match the medal haul of 14 medals in Beijing – six gold, four silver and four bronze?

Coming up fast on the heels of the Trials are the African Championship in Benin this week. It will be a great championship with Kenya sending a strong B side to Porto Novo. The previous continental championships in Addis Ababa was the launching pad for current stars, David Rudisha, Pamela Jelimo and Asbel Kiprop so look out for Kenya’s next stars competing in Benin next week.

While I hesitate to make any predictions on our medal possibilities, I think this team to Beijing is a solid one with a good mix of youth and experience and will rise to the occasion. We should support them as they embark on their final preparations before the Olympics.

Kenya's steeplechase athletes moving up a few distances to the marathon

When Michael Kipyego won the Tokyo Marathon last Sunday, it could have passed for just any other victory by our Kenyan men in world’s major marathons every other weekend. But Kipyego’s triumph at the 42 km distance was unique in that he is a former 3000m steeplechase runner and signals a trend amongst athletes in that event making a sharp trajectory move from that middle distance track event straight to the marathon.

And he is not the first one, only that he has found success at the longer distance quicker than he did at the track. Current steeplechase stars such as Olympic and World Champions Ezekiel Kemboi and Brimin Kipruto have expressed interest in moving up to the marathon, soon after their steeplechase careers are over.

But why do most steeplechasers the move to the marathon and not to the next logical event, the 5000 meters or the 10,000 meters on the track?

One reason could be that the event is so specialized as the physical attributes required of a successful steeplechaser include the speed of a middle distance runner, the stamina of a cross country runner, the strength and flexibility of the 400 hurdler, and the ability to thrive under unpredictable race conditions and pace variations.

Another reason could be that most need a new challenge and the longer track races do not pose an interesting enough test and greater financial rewards as the road races do.

On the other hand, great steeplechasers are extraordinarily tough and determined athletes with exceptional force of will as well as finely developed skills, as proved by the great Moses Kiptanui and Peter Koech who excelled in the 5000m after tremendous careers in the steeplechase.

But this interesting phenomenon amongst steeplechasers brings about questions about our succession planning for this event. Despite our tremendous history and strong heritage in the steeplechase, we need to plan ahead. 

Since 1968, Kenya has won every single Olympic steeplechase except for boycotts in ’76 and 80. A Kenyan born runner has gotten gold and silver in the steeplechase at every World Championship and Olympic Games since 1988 with the exception of 2001 when they got gold and bronze. Kenya born athletes swept the medals in 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007. 8 out of the top 10 all time fastest times in the steeplechase are by Kenyans. 9 if you count Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar, formerly Stephen Cherono of Kenya.

Basically, no country dominates an event like Kenya dominates the steeplechase. It is our marquee event!

But it takes just one major championship without a win in the steeplechase, a real possibility, to uncover our lack of succession planning.

Since 2003, our steeplechase titles and medals have been acquired by only four athletes; Ezekiel Kemboi, Brimin Kipruto, Paul Koech and Richard Mateelong. It is the only event in Kenya where our athletes show tremendous consistency, an important characteristic for success at the highest level and this is self evident with this group. But they can’t continue at this level for much longer.

Beyond these four, there are still quality athletes in the pipeline, but few that show the determination and character to win major races. 

Given that the competition is getting stiffer with the French and even Ugandans getting closer, we need to prepare for the succession of the next great Kenyan steeplechasers rather than just imagining that we can ride on the national pride of our domination of the event for years to come.