Kenya Runners Fight On Even After Violence
Kenya has always been a land plagued with turbulent times, with tribes always being at war with each other. Kenya is the home of some of the fastest and most enduring runners in the world, with their athletes bringing home medals after medals for every competition, but it remains a violent nation,
The 2007 World Champion Luke Kibet for instance, jumps right back into the running scene after being hit on the back of the head during a street brawl in post election violence on Kenya. The injury required him to cease his training temporarily, and needed five stitches to fix. It also prevented him from participating in any track meets for the past 3 months. His first race since the injury will be in the London Marathon, where he aims to forget about the violence in his homeland, and impress the officials in charge of selecting Kenya's Olympic team.
Kibet's personal best is actually 2 minutes slower than the rest of his companions but he had won his own victory as champion in the Osaka World Championships, where the climate is hot and humid. He reckons that this had prepared him for the similarly hot weather of Beijing.
Kibet's unfortunate injury was due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time-- where he was caught in the middle of the road in between two warring tribes. As if that's not enough, his good friend former Olympian Lucas Sang was hacked to death in the struggle, where Kibet saw all of it. His manager, after hearing about this, actually tried to get him to go train in Europe, specifically Germany, but Kibet said no, for he refuses to leave his family.
Other athletes, such as Lel, the 2007 New York City Marathon champion, had made a decision to leave and train elsewhere, as the Kenyan people and their violence make it impossible for athletes to train in peace.
The upcoming London championships will also be participated in by champions Stefano Baldini from Italy, Ryan Hall from the US, Hendrick Ramaala from South Africa and Abderrahim Goumri from Morocco. These runners are already slated as representatives in the Beijing Olympics. At this point, one could say that the London Marathon would serve as the Kenyan Olympic Marathon trial, as none of the Kenyans running in London have experienced performing in the Olympics as of yet. The Kenyan process of selecting their team is unknown, so the five runners will simply have to do their best to impress the Kenyan Olympic Council in hopes of being able to represent their country in this summer's Olympics at Beijing.
