Commonwealth Games - Glasgow : Kenya's Gold, Bleed and Ugly

2014 and it is exactly 60 years since a Kenyan sports personality made it to any international sporting event! And this event was the Commonwealth Games in 1954 ( had previously been known as British Empire Games).

Glasgow 2014 - image courtesy of glasgow.com

With such rich heritage and a storied past, the 2014 edition ought to have been a done deal for Kenyan sport but alas! It is another skewed performance from a contingent of 169 athletes and officials. A misnomer of the Commonwealth Games is that fierce competitors, Ethiopia and other North African countries do not participate.
But even without these countries, Glasgow exposed the scope of Kenya's famed athletes. Out of the 13 disciplines, only 3 managed to get to the podium.

Stand-Outs: 

1. Julius Yego – Javelin Gold standard – first ever field event Gold medal in major c’ships. Even without proper training facilities and technical support he keeps getting better;

Julius Yego - Golden Throw - www.getty.com

2. Eunice Sum – 800m – she's the reigning world champ and she turned up for the another sterling performance;3. Caleb Ndiku – 5000m – coming of age, he was named 2010 SOYA most promising athlete and showed why. Exit Ezekiel Kemboi too we have another performer...

Disappointments:

David Rudisha – 800m Silver - World/Olympic champ & WR holder, we expected nothing short of Gold, even with a poor season so far;

Jason Dunford – Swimming - he finally admitted frustrations/lack of Kenya's Swimming Federation support ( and no officials are sacked..???);

Kenya 7s team – after finishing 2^nd in the table standings in the preliminaries, they met their match in New Zealand who ended our first rugby Commonwealth medal chances

Special Mentions:

1. Conrad Nkanata – US-based sprinter – finished 3^rd in his 200m heat, with proper training he can be a future sprinter;
2. Benson Gicharu – Boxer – even with time running out for his amateur boxing career, he is still punching it out at major sports events

Kenya Sports (Mis)management:

The charade of Kenyan officials in managing the team continued. First it was delayed allowances due to athletes. Second was the kit issue with missing or delayed kit to Team Kenya.  Third was late accreditation which meant missed attendance by cyclist, David Kinjah among others. Fourth and it’s truly out of personal frustration was lack of technical/financial support as well as favouritism in team selection. These last were raised not just by non-traditional disciplines but also swimmers such as Jason Dunford who may have had his swansong representing the country in any sport.

Golden Girls - 3000m s'chase Kenyan trio

We have said this before and shall repeat it for the umpteenth time. Kenya’s sport management needs to change RADICALLY! Why have more than 10 disciplines and only 2-3 have any chance of winning medals? Can more investment be made on a few of these or if all disciplines are represented, get proper exposure to have winning chance(s).

•    Kitting – what business goes on with kit which has been acquired for national duty? Why should some official conveniently forget to order this in time? Other times they issue it to non-participants or stock it in local shops. Sponsors should also review such misdemeanor and cancel contracts for misallocated kits.
•    Allowances – we saw the embarrassment of African teams in World Cup. It did not even take a month before our own officials replicated that same template. Why should individual be charged with responsibility of managing team finances? In future all participants should supply account details and monies sent direct to them like regular pay.
•    Size of squad – how many officials are really needed to attend international events even when their disciplines have no chance of winning a bronze medal? Participation should be on how successful a sport is at regional, continental or international duty.
•    Technical/Financial details – for most disciplines Kenya has lost a semblance of international standards. From boxing, swimming to even some athletics events, the edge of advances in technical knowledge is lacking. Spotlight is on sports federations’ internal wrangles and lack of international best practice to compete at such levels.

As usual we shall be treated to excuses and made to forget what has become perennial under-achieving by our national team(s). As a nation,we need to demand accountability from those in charge of our sports bodies. The Government must also stop playing deaf and be more forceful in getting officials to straighten their act. 

It is no wonder that most athletes prefer running in Grand Prix events, others opting to quit even before their prime as a frustrated lot. See what is happening to the football fraternity? 

Olympics 2012 - Kenya, This is IT!

The 4 year cycle is over & this time London it is! The Olympic Games - multiple-sport biggest sporting extravaganza. And Kenya is firmly in there to claim its place. For those who read this blog, we'll give a few of our own thoughts on what we think of Kenya's hopes at these Games;

Flying the Kenyan Flag

Athletics:
Our (over)-reliance on this means once again, it is and remains the biggest prospects for medals. There are quite a number of world-beaters, from world champions to world record holders as well as reigning Olympic medallists.
Predictions:
800m:
Men (Gold)  Women (Gold)

1500m:
Men (Gold and Silver) Women (Silver)

3000m steeplechase:
Men ( Gold, Silver & Bronze); Women ( Gold and Bronze)

5000m:
Men ( Bronze); Women ( Silver)

10000m
Men (Silver); Women ( Gold)

Marathon:
Men (Gold and Bronze); Women ( Gold, Silver)

4 X 400m (Men) - The one-lap runners will most likely make to the Final (if they don't drop the baton or run outside their lane). But the traditional teams of US, Caribbean and even Team GB will still be too strong to overcome.

Javelin: It will be a honourable mention to Julius Yego but he can't beat the Eastern Europeans and Scandinavian throwers. They're way ahead technically and physically. 


Boxing:
No offence to our boxers but the best we can manage is a Bronze by Benson Gicharu. This is because the game is quite technical nowadays and the scoring system is quite something. The preparations were not up to standard but this Kenyan cop can pack a punch all the way to the semis.

Swimming:
Jason Dunford will once again get to the Finals of the 100m butterfly on the back of some great outings in the World Swimming c'ships and Africa c'ships & All-Africa Games. David Dunford might also make it through the heats but as for the Finals, still anyone's guess...

Weighlifting:
This is another sport Kenya has never quite excelled at Olympic Games level and this year it won't be any different. The techniques, lack of proper training as well as physical challenges are some of the reasons why.

Total Medal Haul Forecast:
 8 Gold 5 Silver & 4 Bronze
Put on a good show Kenyans and we shall be rooting for you to beat our medal forecast and bring more home. We shall be proud as always for your sterling show! Go #TeamKenya!

Julius Yego - Profile of a future Olympian

For most of us, YouTube is a form of entertainment as well as watching 'edu-tainment' clips or the latest music videos. For sports lovers, it serves as a nice platform for catching and replaying precious moments in their favourite sports events.

Julius Yego - trail-blazing Kenyan javelin thrower 

Enter Julius Yego - this Kenyan athlete (... no, not the typical track specialist) had other ideas for YouTube. Participating in an event which has never been a speciality for Kenya let alone Africa, he managed to hone his skill and better his technique using this social media platform.
And true to word, his skill got better and his techniques won him the first ever gold medal for a field event for Kenya in the 2011 All-Africa Games in the Mozambican capital of Maputo. This he did by breaking the national record to a then new record throw of 78.34m ( he has since broken it once to 79.95m and attained standard B throw length for the London Olympics).
Thanks to his exploits and his parent sports association in the name of Athletics Kenya, he managed to secure 2 months training stint in Finland which effects led to his attaining qualifying standards. Hoping to better his throwing before the start of the July-August event, Yego will surely join the many sports men and women who have made Olympic folklore not just by becoming champions but also by the mere part of participating in this 4-year sporting extravaganza.
And he stills recognises the role that social media plays in his everyday life of ensuring he becomes a world beater in the throw sport of javelin....thanks to YouTube!
He's truly a Kenyan and African sports legend in the making. Here's an article from Chinese's Xinhua on Julius Yego.