World Relays gives Kenyan Athletes 'Golden Shine'

This past weekend marked the inaugural World Relays under the auspices of IAAF hosted in the Caribbean island of Bahamas ( the natives called Bahamians, more like Bohemian Rhapsody...I digress).

World Relays Bahamas 2014 - image courtesy of www.iaaf.org

The 2-day event had some really good action for any sports and athletics enthusiasts. Stealing some of the attention for the more popular football (soccer in other quarters), was a huge gamble but for those few moments the Championships produced some sparkle. The c'ships had 10 events billed as the Golden Baton which included the more common and widely accepted

• 4 x 100m ( both men and women)
• 4 x 400m 

But also other races including;

• 4 x 200m  or 2 lap event
• 4 x 800m or 8-lap event
• 4 x 1500m or 15-lap event.

As expected some athletics powerhouses such as the US and Jamaica sent strong teams especially in the short(er) sprints. Kenya too sent very strong teams in what were expected to be its specialties in the middle races. After what might have been a fiasco in national team selection, the team redeemed itself winning 3 out of its targeted 4 Gold medals and each of those in World Record times. There was also special mention of the 4 x 400m Kenyan men's team which featured in the Final B ending up in the tail end of the proceedings. 

A few lessons too could be taken by the Kenyans from these Games;

a) Preparations - The national selection method employed by Athletics Kenya was not the most scientific and suited for this purpose. This led to an almost disjointed effort in preparing the team for the c'ships. In future, it would not hurt to make proper preparations for national selection and onward camp for participants.

b) Tactics- while we may not have been with the coaches and managers, some of the tactics employed  cost the team valuable points and wins. For example, the 4 x 800m women's race decision to run a fairly inexperienced Busienei in the first leg saw Kenya lose her position to lead and ultimately play catch up to the US team. 

c) More Country representation - being the inaugural c'ships not every country was able to send representatives and some sent some more junior and inexperienced runners. Beijing in 2015, you can be sure it will not be a walk-over even for Kenya even in the middle races that we seem to have such a stronghold. Ethiopia, Algeria, Morocco and even Uganda will want to prove a point or two. We saw what is happening in the marathons and 10K races in other championships. And it is not just the Africans breathing down the necks of Kenyans, Russia, Romania and other European countries always fancy challenging Kenyan athletes.

Kenya's 4 x 1500m Women's team - image courtesy of www.iaaf.org

d) Track and Field Clubs - while Kenya has traditionally had no problem in producing talent especially for the middle and long distances, our performances in the shorter races of 400m, 200m and 100m have been dismal. Save for the occasional suprise in the 400m, the others don't seem to feature in our calendar. 

One way of encouraging this is forming running/sprint clubs that can be situated in 2-3 cities in the country. Rigorous training and exposure will see us in good stead. Investing in the necessary infrastructure such as tartan running tracks, gyms, sports scientists and nutritionists is integral too. The US has Santa Monica Track Club(which produced among others sprint legend Carl Lewis), Jamaica has the MVP Track and Field Club

(with women sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser in its stable). Why can't Kenya invest in one too?

e) Reward System - though this has been ongoing with the gold medal winners in major games such as Olympics and Commonwealth getting national honours, more can be done to earn our athletes their worth. The mileage enjoyed by their participation and winning is more than the fancy budgets and trips that tourism officials seek to justify for their activities. There has been talk of an Athletics Hall of Fame by Athletics Kenya but this ought to be a public-private partnership by all parties concerned.

For now let's enjoy the shine of winning 3 Gold medals and records to boot. In 2015, I don't see why Kenya should not bag 4 Gold medals and Bronze or two in the shorter races. Optimistic perhaps? 

Quick recap:

Kenya won Gold in the 4 x 800m (men), 4 x 1500m (men and women) and Silver in 4 x 800m (women).

In Related News:

When Safaricom Limited announced that it had secured the naming rights of Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi,  its current CEO Bob Collymore intimated that one of the areas of focus would be investing in the shorter races. This was echoing earlier sentiments made in 2012 when he was awarding the Olympic heroes. True to their word, the company sponsored the National Relay series which almost ended in confusion after Athletics Kenya couldn't agree on a proper formula for the competition. In future, national associations should have proper blueprints for events such as this. Having secured funding and sponsorship such as Safaricom's makes it easier to consult experts and host more successful events. 

For future Relay events, Athletics Kenya can do better by letting the respective branches come up with teams which can then compete at the series of trials in Nairobi and any other city deemed suitable. This will not only attract new talent but also expose potential athletes to specialisations beyond the individual races they usually do.

As for Safaricom Limited, your investment may start bearing fruit sooner than expected...

Road to Olympics - Beijing 2008 Olympics Games

Beijing 2008 logo - courtesy of www.olympic.org

In the final part of our Road to Olympics, we look at the most recent Games the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games held in China.


These Games were in many ways the 'coming out' party for the People's Republic of China and indeed they put up a great spectacle. From modern venues to a well-choreographed opening ceremony, the Games were one of the biggest in recent times. There were other major milestones which included live broadcasts done via Internet as well as the emergence of social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter which would change the way sport was viewed and reported. The shadow of Chinese authorities censorship did not escape observers though this was largely undone during the span of the Games.


Highlights:

• China's hosting meant that they emerged top of the medals standings by a haul - 51 Gold  compared to USA's 36 - in the process setting a new record for most medals won in any single Games without boycotts (USSR had won 80 Gold in 1980 & USA 83 in 1984 but both had major boycotts).
• The Bird's Nest & Water Cube ( Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center respectively) were some of the more enduring venues of any Olympic Games.
• Concerns of pollution and insecurity had been expressed before the start of the Games but none of these came to fore during the Games exonerating the Beijing organisers.
• Li Ning's lighting of the torch was also one of the biggest highlights of the Games ( marketers also note it for the fact that he used his own shoe label instead of China's official sponsors, Nike).
• More than 100 Heads of States and Governments attended the Games during its whole duration. This is in addition to the 205 countries attending through their respective National Olympic Committees.
• Michael Phelps finally broke the record for most gold medals in a single Olympics taking 8 Gold and breaking 7 world records and 1 Olympic record in the process.
• Liu Xiang broke his home fans by dropping out of the 110m hurdles race which he had been favoured to win.

Beijing 2008 mascots

Kenyan Highlights:

• After poor shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, Kenya finally reigned supreme taking 6 Gold 4 Silver and 4 Bronze ( 5 were won at the Games while the 6th was awarded to 1500m men 2nd-placed Asbel Kiprop after initial winner Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi was stripped for use of illegal substances)
• Women medallists equalled the men  winning 3 Gold same as their male counterparts.
• Other medallists included ; Gold -  800m women Pamela Jelimo, Wilfred Bungei 800m men, Nancy Lagat 1500m women, Brimin Kipruto 3000m men's steeplechase and (the late)Samuel Wanjiru - men's marathon; Silver - Janeth Jepkosgei 800m women, Eunice Jepkorir 3000m women's steeplechase , Eliud Kipchoge  5000m men and Catherine Ndereba - women's marathon, while Bronze went to Alfred Kirwa 800m men, Richard Mateelong 3000m steeplechase, Edwin Cheruiyot 5000m men and Micah Yogo 10000m men.
• In swimming Jason Dunford, temporarily held the Olympic record for the 100m butterfly men's event winning his Heat (7) in 51.14 seconds ( it's now the African and Kenyan record). He did make the finals but was placed 7th. No mean achievement in itself! 
• Kenya also sent a rower Matthew Lidaywa -who placed 30th in the finals of the Single Sculls- another first for the country in any Olympics!