Lessons from our Paris 2024 heroes and what we must do

 

Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto with 2024 Paris Olympic Games medalists at the Eldoret State Lodge Uasin Gishu County on August 15, 2024. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

This week’s column is dedicated to Kenya’s Paris 2024 heroes. In the early stages of the jamboree, in true Kenyan fashion, the rather disappointing performance in the non-athlete sports especially Women’s Volleyball and the men’s long and middle-distance races caused a major uproar on social media.

The desperation was heightened by the loss of the 3000 metres steeplechase, a race Kenya has historically “owned”. The latter caused much anguish, only tempered by Abraham Biwott’s bronze medal.   

All manner of brickbats were hurled towards the Ministry of Sports, Athletics Kenya and finally the athletes.  But there was a turnaround once the Kenyan girls, commencing with Beatrice Chebet’s gold in the 10,000 metres. Her double gold award, courtesy of the 5000 metres removed whatever doubts Kenyans had on the country’s dominance in the middle and long races.

Of course, nothing delighted Kenyans more than Faith Kipyegon’s gold in the 1500 metres especially when her Ethiopian tormentor Gudaf Tsegay in the 5000 metres performed poorly. The latter had caused Faith’s silver medal to be unfairly cancelled.

By the time the medal was returned, Kenyans on X were already creating an internet storm, only cooled by the morning news that Faith’s disqualification had been reversed, though she was still handed an undeserved yellow card.

The ultimate haul of 13 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze left Kenya as Africa’s undisputed Olympic No 1 though globally we ended up as number 17. Our heroes deserve our earnest respect and gratitude. They deserve more than the pittances we grant them; they keep our flag flying despite operating in difficult circumstances.

I was delighted to note a much-improved welcome of the team at the airport, better than what transpired when Malaika Stars returned, but a far cry from Letsile Tebogo’s welcome in Botswana. There is also another class of sportspeople that may not have received medals for Kenya but still deserve our respect and gratitude.

First among them is Julius Yego the self-taught Javelin champion who played against the greats and became an impressive number 5. He is our hero for standing in the gap in the rare sports offerings.

Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge also deserves a bouquet. He may not have finished the marathon, but Kipchoge is the epitome of resilience, perseverance and hard work. Indeed, every sportsperson who made it to Paris for Kenya deserves a bouquet. Another controversial category that we need to continually acknowledge is our sports “exports” to different countries. Mutile Yavi, who won gold in the Women’s Steeplechase for her adopted country Bahrain, joins a long list of Kenyans who have achieved similar feats as nationals of other countries. We must be proud of these Kenyans. Sentiments about their lack of patriotism should be treated with contempt.

Kenya’s athletic terrain is very competitive, and many good runners cannot get a chance to appear in global competitions if they insist on only competing for Kenya. If another country is willing to give them an opportunity to reach their potential and achieve their dreams, why would we begrudge them such options?

In any event, they will always be “Kenyan born” and like all Kenyan diaspora, are a rich source of forex remittances with great benefits for the economy. For those who cannot get opportunities here but travel elsewhere and get ahead, I say good for you!

That said, the Olympics taught us a valuable lesson. Kenya must diversify its sports options. Our overreliance on athletics is not good in the long term. Yego has shown us that we can javelin. Alexandra Ndolo showed us that we can fence. It does not make sense for us to be athletics number 2 but slide to number 17 when all sports are considered. 

We must now invest in these other sports. Africa must however push the Olympics community to introduce options that align with our local capacities and experiences if we cannot compete in gymnastics, kite flying or breakdancing!

All things considered, however, our athletes did us proud. It is however clear we have the potential to do much better and CS Kipchumba Mukormen and his team have their work cut out for them.

The writer is an advocate