Athletics: Rio 2016 Olympics preps must be meticulous

By GISHINGA NJOROGE

KENYA: A majority of Kenyans see that everything in the horizon is about the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil in 2016.

Sure, the Fifa World Cup is also in Brazil this June and July but they are resigned to the fact that it will be a long time before football, at this level, can be any of their business.

They will take a painful glance at Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Algeria taking part and, at best, wish them luck as African representatives.

Because of the utmost torment that Kenyans go through over the fact that they cannot get their football right, they are grateful that at least ever since independence their country has performed well at the glorious stage of the Olympics.

Unless, say, one of the African teams reaches the semi-final, the final or wins the football World Cup, Kenyans will be looking ahead to when the Africans will be returning to Brazil in another two years’ time ––– for the  XXXI Olympiad.

Rio 2016 actually became instant focus after the London 2012. Kenya did not do particularly well in the last Olympics and, indeed, the saving grace was David Rudisha and Ezekiel Kemboi’s Gold medals.

Below expectation

As usual Athletics carried the nation’s hopes and after performance went below expectation it came down to claims that Isaiah Kiplagat, the chairman of  Athletics Kenya (AK) and Kipchoge Keino, the legendary running hero who heads the National Olympic Committee (NOCK), two men from virtually the same village,  had let their surly relationship mess up the team.

But it was crying after spilt milk. If once bitten, twice shy was the adage to guide avoiding a repeat four years later, what was to be done about Kiplagat’s and Keino’s alleged feud?

Barring enforceable change of events prior, the two will still be holding the two crucial positions when Kenyans go to compete in Rio between August 5 and 21, 2016.

From the London experience, it was perhaps quite clear how to navigate the “Road to Rio”; removing the obstacles or training how to go over hurdles.

But the traditional behaviour of Kenyan Olympic teams can never be seen to have been down to the management style of two men. The country’s archaic approach to preparations for the Games is entrenched and needs total overhaul.

If they go by the familiar script, somewhere in June 2016, the country will finally pick their last members of the Olympic team when AK hold their track and field trials.

Many other disciplines whose performers come nowhere close Olympics standards ––such as judo, weight lifting, wrestling, shooting, archery, badminton, table tennis –– will be trying to arm-twist the Government and NOCK to give them money for preparation so that they can use wild cards to compete at the Olympics.

Do they even ever have domestic competitions, let alone regional, continental? When is that last time you heard of a local inter-club weight lifting contest? Are Kenyan wrestlers the best in East Africa? Is badminton played anymore in the country?

Before All Africa, Commonwealth and Olympic Games raucous noise that unsettles team preparations always comes from these sporting organisations that appear completely dormant all year round but come active in quest for money on the eve of these periodic major events.

Ultimately a huge number of average track and field athletes and completely untested amateurs in a plethora of other disciplines will jam-pack the pre-Olympic camp at Kasarani in July 2016. And for weeks they will be a complete nuisance to the few genuine Games’ medal hopefuls.

The Olympics are a serious matter. A one month’s camp at Kasarani will never make anyone a world beater at the Olympics.

Today, a complete two and a half years ahead of schedule, many around the world who will be winners in Rio, are aware who they are. And so should the Kenyans know already their horses to bet on. Then, irrespective of whether Kiplagat will be smiling with Keino, Kenyans should support these thoroughbreds, all the way to Rio.

Leave Kiplagat and Keino alone. Mismanagement of AK and NOCK my niggle, a bit, but surely not enough to distract a fully-recovered-from-injury and tuned up David Rudisha to make another 800m Golden run in Rio.

As usual, track will be the country’s badge of honour in Rio. And the top professional track athletes in Kenya clearly do not require that much “baby sitting” by either AK or NOCK. In fact in London, Rudisha and Kemboi won in spite of the alleged saboteurs. So many other athletes ought to fall in this category and should rebuff distractions and win.

Shenanigans

Awaiting the report on the shenanigans surrounding the Kenya team in London and depending on recommendation to tackle the problems in future ought not to be too much the concern of genuine Gold medal hopefuls in Rio right now.

In yet another instance, that supreme British athlete, whom Kenyans are so familiar with becomes another teaching example –– the incredible Mo Farah.

There may be the Commonwealth Games (July 23- August 3) in Glasgow, and the World Athletics Championships in Beijing (August 22-30) next year but Mo Farah’s focus and that of purists is on his taking his next most significant milestone.

He is being urged to aim for a historic golden treble in distance running at Rio in 2016; the outlandish bid for victory in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the Marathon at a single Olympics. Only achieved once before, by the Czech “Locomotive” Emil Zatopek (Helsinki, 1952), because of the congested Olympic programme these days, it is considered almost an impossible feat.

After the 5,000 and 10,000m double in London Farah did not take a break and steam rolled straight to a repeat in the World Championships in Moscow last August. His victory meant that Farah was only the second man, after Kenenisa Bekele, to achieve the double-double of 5,000m and 10,000m Golds at the Olympics and the following world championships. It was also Mo Farah’s fifth global title, two more than any other British athlete.

After Moscow, it was on to a few more road races and Farah only rested recently, at the close of the year. And can you believe it; it was only a mere few days off, given by his America coach, Alberto Salazar.

 But meanwhile, he welcomed his (grand two weeks) holiday telling a reporter before taking off to the Caribbean: “Mate, I’m putting my feet up, chilling out. I’m not running.”

Salazar has ruled out the possibility of Farah attempting the trio in Rio calling the feat impossible in the modern era.

But the great Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie who run against Farah in England at the close of the year said: “You never know. It depends on the schedule, the time, how fit you are but in sport, everything is possible.

 “It is not easy even to win a single gold, but why not? The 10,000m is a straight final, the marathon is a straight final; only the 5,000m is not. Maybe he could win two of them and take another medal or something unique and historical.”

Some top Kenyan athletes are sophisticated enough to realise it is all entirely up to them how they will perform in Rio and very little to do with how AK on NOCK is run. Neither anything to do with the mood swings, at the time, of eminent senior citizens Kiplagat or Keino.

Of course one as great as Mo Farah is Rudisha, who had laid injured since winning a Diamond League race in New York last June. That saw him absent in Moscow, surrendering his World Championship title. But at the end of last year he had recovered, sounding relaxed and due to resume training just prior to Christmas.

Stationary cycling or a gentle swim, however, was the regime to keep his weight down and will continue until he feels light enough to hit the trail or track.

To stay healthy, divine intervention is always important but the rest to do with whether one of Kenya’s brightest hopes for Gold in Rio will be in fine tune depends of the plot of two people –– Rudisha and his mentor, long-time coach Brother Colm O’Connell of Iten, Elgeyo-Marakwet County. Success or failure will not be down to AK or NOCK.

Aman prowess

Watching the Moscow World Championships on television back home in Kenya Rudisha and O’Connell saw Mohammed Aman take Rudisha’s world title, and later following it up in a Brussels meet with a fast 1:42.37 for an Ethiopian national record.

In the previous two seasons it was only Aman who had come close to Rudisha, the 1:40.91secs record holder and actually the only one who had beaten the Kenyan (twice).

It is informative to see exactly what is required of the top athletes to go into the Olympics confident they can win; a clear long preparation plan. If there are those with the notion that a rush in early 2016 will get them anywhere, they better think again and emulate Mo Farah and Rudisha.

And that brings us to some Kenya’s aspiring rookie Olympians who are probably thinking as smart as Farah and Rudisha.

Supremely confident

The Kenya Sevens rugby team are supremely confident that they will be in Rio in 2016, becoming only the third Kenyan group ever to participate in a team sport –– after men’s field hockey and women’s volleyball.

The Sevens team’s programme was launched well before that of the true pro, David Rudisha. You will not wait until June 2016, when the contingent moves to the dorms at Kasarani, to identify the Kenya Sevens team for Rio.

The Roster of 25 men is already on the facing page of this feature. The first 20 are all in South Africa and the top 12 comprise the team to make an early run out, taking part in the George Sevens Premier League today and tomorrow.

These are the men involved in a clear plan to have a sharp team to contend for a medal in Rio.

They have two options for a passage to the Olympics. The first is that they must finish among the top four teams in the IRB (International Rugby Board) World Series in the 2015/16 season. The other is that if they finish outside that they must go through a qualifying tournament.

In 2013 Kenya finished fourth in the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow. Last season they finished fifth in the HSBC World Series. Making it to the Olympics is in little doubt and the choice of path will be dictated on their performance in the coming two seasons.

Paul Treu, Performance Director and Head Coach of the Kenyan Sevens will be giving starts in George to those players have not had enough playing recently or had been unavailable altogether.

Going against Kenya in the invitational tournament will be very potent teams by unfamiliar names.

Steven Hunt, Werner Kok and Kwagga Smith all formed part of the victorious “Bokke” team that overcame defending champions New Zealand in an emotional final played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, only a couple of days after the passing away of former president Nelson Mandela.

The three all SARU contracted players and will be joined in George by a number of team members from their Stellenbosch base. Ruwellyn Isbell, Tshotsho Mbovane, Mark Richards and WJ Strydom are all SARU contracted players, whilst schoolboy star Warwick Gelant holds a dual Vodacom Blue Bulls and SA Sevens Academy contract. ––[email protected]