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What Is The Secret Of These African Long Distance Runners?
Friday, January 05, 2007
African athletes, and especially those from an East African nation called Kenya, are reputed to be the best in the world especially in the middle and long distance races to an extent where other top sporting nations have chosen not to enter these races for the simple reason that the Kenyans are unbeatable. What makes these men and women from the tiny east African state impossible to defeat?
For starters, most of the world renowned athletes from Kenya come from the highlands in that country. In the rift valley to be more specific, which is well over 6,000 feet above sea level. Here oxygen is "thin" hence making their lungs more efficient which comes in handy when it comes to endurance.
This has made these men and women absorb more oxygen into their lungs than their competitors without using any perfomance enhancing drugs and gives them an edge when it comes to the middle and long distance races.
Among the races that Kenyans have excelled in include the 3,000 meters steeplechase, the 5,000 and 10,000meters along with the marathon where names like Paul Tergat and Tecla Lorupe have become household names the world over due to their exploits
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Another major factor that has made Kenyan athletes conquer the world is the simple fact that most of them started running around early in life due to problems like having to attend school far from home and had to jog the entire way to and from the education institutions.
It is not uncommon in Kenya for primary school pupils in the Rift Valley to attend school 8 miles from home since institutions are few and far in between as the population growth cannot match the expansion of educational facilities.
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Poverty is also a major contributor as these men and women know that running has become a lucrative career where one can make millions of dollars over a short period of time as long as they keep winning and can get a good agent.
Most of these world beaters come from very humble beginnings with many of them having had to settle for a single meal in a day during their formative years as a result of abject poverty. According to statistics, about 70 per cent of Kenyans live below the poverty line having to survive on less than a dollar a day.
It is also not surprising that many athletes are now running for rich nations like Qatar where they are offered millions of dollars to denounce their Kenyan citizenship so as to run for their adopted nation, a move that has not gone down well with Kenyan authorities.
According to the Kenyan law, one cannot have dual citizenship and if you are granted citizenship by a foreign nation, you automatically lose your birthright.
The pioneer sportsmen who conquered the world in the 1972 Olympic games also set the ball rolling for future athletes who had to maintain the high standards.
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Kipchoge Keino won the 3,000 meters race during those Olympic games and became an instant hero at home with the then president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta ordering his employers, the Kenya police to promote him from the rank of police corporal to chief inspector, the budding athlete was also honored during the independence day celebrations later that year.
It was then that Kenyans realized that athletics was a way of not only securing better job opportunities but also a means to fame and glory.
Today, the deal is even better as there are millions of dollars in commercial endorsements and prize money especially if one manages to break a world record or win several races in succession.
Athletics Kenya, the body running athletics in the country has also contributed to the success of the athletes by ensuring high standards of discipline are maintained among the sportsmen and women as well as ensuring that they are not exploited by unscrupulous agents who are known to misuse them and then discard athletes when they are burnt out.
Leading sports apparel manufacturers have also established modern training camps in the highlands which are opened throughout the year and allow potential athletes to train as much as possible paying little or nothing for the facilities as they are nurtured to world class level.
And again, Kenya's top athletes have been role models for millions of local youths due to the humility they depict as they appear in public with many of them having established foundations to assist aspiring athletes as well as the less fortunate in society.
For instance, marathon queen Tecla Lorupe has established a foundation which promotes peace among the warring communities where she comes from as cattle rustling is a common happening, which regularly claims human lives.
Lorupe organizes an annual peace marathon, which has become a very popular event not to mention the fact that it is succeeding in bringing peace among the war-like tribes of Pokots and Marakwets.
4:13 AM
Comments:
Good question! When we started to run we had the same problem.
How can we win?
Filippo Secolo
Runners without Borders - Italy
http://corridorisenzafrontiere.blogspot.com/
# posted by
Filippo : 7:24 AM
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