Why Samuel Wanjiru is immortal

Were it not for Samuel Wanjiru's gold medal victory at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Kenya would hold not a single Olympic men's marathon title

In Helsinki some years ago, having a discussion around athletics, one of the locals just oozed admiration of the clear Finnish hero, 2007 javelin throw world champion Tero Pitkamaki.

“He’s powerful, he’s the best,” she said.
At around that time, athletics in Finland meant simply javelin. That was why 60,000 would pack a stadium just to see Pitkamaki throw; it didn’t matter whether there were other world stars taking part in 100m sprints, 3,000m steeplechase or 10,000m.

Men’s javelin is virtually Finnish property; even though their most recent Olympic medals in the throw were bronze in 2008 for Pitkamaki and in London 2012 for Antti Ruuskanen. The Fins have won the men’s javelin gold at the Olympic Games a stunning record seven times, and four times at the World Athletics Championships.

But just as men’s javelin throwers are the heroes of the moment, the Fins are proud and conscious of their long distance running greatness. In fact, they regard themselves on top, among the all-time powerhouses. Do they not, after all, boast of the most successful running athlete that ever lived?

Try throwing any doubt that the accolade does not belong to legendary Paavo Nurmi. A Fin would not take it lying down.

“He’s the greatest ever,” another Helsinki athletics fan said: “No one comes close to Paavo Nurmi; not Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Jesse Owens, Peter Snell, Lasse Viren, Jackie Joyner-Kersee or Evelyn Ashford...”

Paavo Nurmi won nine Olympic Gold medals and three silver, for a stunning 12 total, in three Games between 1920 and ‘28. Carl Lewis comes close with nine Gold and one silver for a total of 10 in four Olympic Games -- 1984 to ‘96.

Everyone in Finland knows about Paavo Nurmi (whose name, incidentally, is always referred to in full) with and his feats after astonishing feats at the Olympics. He won in the rare combinations of 3,000m steeplechase, 10,000m, 5,000m, 3,000m, 1,500m and cross country.

His iron will, hard work and fierce discipline that nobody hoping to survive on talent alone could dream of coming near him became the inspiration of other Finnish sportsmen of all walks of life including even the motorsport greats; read (rallying) Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikola, Timo Salonen, Marku Alen, Juha Kankkunnen, Tommi Makinen, Marcus Gronholm and (Formula One) Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.

And the Fins know their athletics subject the way Africans run off details about footballers in the continent and far off especially in Britain and Spain.

To a Fin, the challenge put in by Ethiopians, Kenyans, Moroccans and Algerians, especially in middle and long distance running, is to be admired but certainly not feared. They view Africans as new entrants into the fray, but hardly dominant.

Kipchoge Keino is Kenya’s and one of Africa’s all-time athletics greats and Olympic champions, but a Fin pointed out that one of his (Keino’s) biggest adversaries was one Pekka Antero Vasala.

After Keino won the 1,500m Olympic gold in 1968 against the great American Jim Ryun in Mexico, it was Vasala who destroyed the Kenyan to take the gold in the Munich final four years later.

Keino is considered a legendary Kenya icon for his two Olympic gold medals and two silver in 1968 and ‘72 but contrast that with another Fin, Lasse Viren, the architect of a complete Fin domination of middle and long distance – 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m sweep -- at the Munich Olympics.

Viren’s tally reads four pure gold and the rare 5,000m and 10,000m doubles in Munich ‘72 and ‘76 (Montreal).

“Pekka (Vasala) was a tough guy,” Keino, now 74, was saying a few years ago of the adversary he greatly admired, adding:

“(200 metres out) the big man was with me, I kicked... in the last 100 metres he was there, I tried to kick again but he was strong. He won by a yard, two yards...but I accepted it.

“After so many years after Munich, I had a chance to meet Pekka (now 65). Oh, big, big bloke now. Like me, he was gracefully enjoying his retirement and it brought back nice memories. In Munich, each of us gave his best in that 1,500m final and the deserved winner was Pekka.”

It was only an old hand like Keino who would recognise that even in the present day Kenyans are nowhere near to dominating world long distance running as is erroneously portrayed especially in the country’s media. The blue ribbon of athletics competition is the Olympics but, for instance, Kenya, despite all the acclaim to their men’s marathoners, are outclassed by Ethiopians (record four-time winners), France and the USA (three-time each), East Germany, Argentina, Italy and even South Africa (two-time winners each).

If it was not for Samuel Wanjiru’s stunning world record feat of winning the men’s marathon in Beijing in 2008, Kenya would have nothing to show for all her purported prowess in marathon running.

At the Olympics, Kenya’s marathon honours do not surpass, can you believe it, the achievement of, for instance, Uganda, Korea or Portugal and for that matter Finland who have an equal one victory each at the games.

Outside the Olympics, road race and marathon running is a financially lucrative venture credited with the success of Kenyans in search of money. They rule the major city marathons in London, New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, Paris and Tokyo.

But Kenyans come a cropper in the Championship (Olympic, Commonwealth and All Africa Games) races without financial awards and where demand is of internal force encompassing strength of will determination, courage and perseverance.

Those are qualities Paavo Nurmi embodied to become the inspiration to long distance runners of especially Scandinavia and rest of Europe who are so successful in Olympic marathon running.