Marathon gold caps best ever Olympics for Kenya

• Kenya won 5 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals to finish as the top African nation
• The performance surpassed the previous best of nine medals (five gold, two silver and two bronze)
• Wanjiru’s winning time of two hours, six minutes and 32 seconds was an Olympic record

Last month, President Kibaki increased the cash awards for the medalists with gold medal winners getting Sh1.75 million, silver medalists Sh1,25 million and bronze medal winners Sh580,000.

Image Gallery

Related Stories

• China brings curtain down on epic Games
• Japanese connection pays off for champion
• How Lagat beat all the odds
• British take to the streets
• We need to explore other disciplines

“This was the greatest performance ever by Kenya at the Olympics and it surpasses the record of nine medals that was achieved at the Seoul Olympics in 1988,” Okeyo said.

“I would like to thank the athletes and officials for making the positive contribution to the performance and to the government and sponsors for their increased incentives.”

Sunday’s colourful closing ceremony, that saw the Olympic flag handed over to 2012 hosts, London, was attended by several world leaders including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and the presidents of Iceland and Finland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and Tarja Halonen respectively.

China’s success in hosting a successful Olympics in the face of accusations over its human rights record and skepticism over its ability to organize and incident-free Olympics drew admiration from Rogge and world leaders alike.

“Through the Games, the world learned more about China and China learned more about the world. Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees came to these dazzling venues and awed us with their talent,” Rogge, a surgeon and former Olympics sailing athlete, said.