Kenya: How to Remain a Global Sporting Nation

My attention was drawn to a piece in the August 8th online edition of the Daily Nation newspaper. It was titled "Why Kenyans are world beaters". In view of Kenya's poor performance in London2012, I thought it was an exceedingly incongruous and inappropriate line to push right now. It makes the world think that we have our heads firmly and naively buried in the sand. Perhaps there are those who will argue "Who cares what the world thinks?"  -- but that's how you get left pitifully behind.   

This is no time for chest-thumping, as Kenya is not, not by a long short, a world beater where it matters a lot (and most) -- at the (London2012) Olympics, where all participating nations are driven, after arduous preparations, to do their best in the presence of all the rest. Our poor performance so far, compounded by the apparent lack of professionally competent mentoring of our younger athletes, such as Chemos, and by the high expectations that escorted the athletes, makes Kenya arguably the unhappiest nation on earth this Olympic season. 

Shame on the policy makers. They have not invested the requisite funds and infrastructure to back-stop our talented sports men and women -- mostly young people. They are embarrassing our youth by denying them the national wherewithal to continue to shine in the world -- and to outperform. The youth are mostly left to their own devices, and to the charity of a few. The Ministry in charge of sports is asleep, deluded perhaps that 'airbagging' is enough to nourish champions. Is it a wonder that our athletes seem to really shine only when there is mouth-watering prize money to be had individually in major sporting events?

I hear Kenyans of different walks of life wonder, based on the goings on in London, why we continue to compete with the rest of the world in practically the same narrow band of track and field events as we have since 1968 or so. Let us learn from the Chinese idea (as well as the TeamGB, US, Japanese, Australian, Russia and Ukrainian models) of a truly sporting nation. Let us invent massively in our youth in all areas of sport. Let us rewrite Vision 2030 to address this great and debilitating oversight. Let us start anew with a new crop of competitively recruited national sports officials with fresh and imaginative ideas. 

Rudisha and perhaps someone else may yet re-knit our tattered reputation before London2012 is over, but it's time to wake up. Look how much weight Rudisha is carrying on his dignified shoulders!

POSTSCRIPT:

I came across the print version of Elias Makori's article on the above theme only around 2 p.m. today, several hours after posting my own piece.Then I knew there was an online version. Here it is: "NOCK officials must take the cane for the mess in London". It is much more informative than mine, and more to the point than Dr. Joshua Arimi's. Makori points out in detail what ails Kenya's athletics at the Olympics, and points to a string of solutions that must be introduced if there is to be hope for the future, and if Kenya's athletes are to become world beaters again. Let the conversation begin -- devoid of political grand-standing, but with some necessary finger-pointing.