World Javelin champion Julius Yego involved in road accident in Eldoret

The Toyota Prado that world javelin champion Julius Yego was driving when he was involved in a night accident in Eldoret on October 23, 2016. Yego was rushed to Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret Town where he was kept overnight for tests and observations. PHOTO | WYCLIFF KIPSANG | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • His extensively damaged Prado was towed to Eldoret Central Police Station.
  • Police on night duty kept journalists at bay, preventing them from taking photos.
  • On his Facebook page, Yego wrote: "God is living and great! I'm OK my people. Can't believe am alive. @mungu yupo! I'm in stable condition."
  • When the Nation team toured the hospital at 4am Monday, Yego was undergoing medical tests and scans to ascertain the extent of his injuries.

World javelin champion Julius Yego is in a stable condition and undergoing tests at an Eldoret hospital after being involved in a high-impact accident that wrote off his week-old sports utility vehicle (SUV) on Sunday night.

Yego was driving his brand-new Toyota Prado on Kapsoya Road near Equity Bank at around 10pm when the accident happened.

He was alone in the vehicle.

The extensively damaged SUV was towed to the Eldoret Central Police Station, with police on night duty preventing journalists from taking photos of the mangled wreckage.

Yego was rushed to Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret Town where he was kept overnight for tests and observations.

When the Nation team visited the hospital on Sunday night, Yego was undergoing tests.

Hospital officials declined to talk to journalists, although Yego, in a Facebook post, assured his fans that he was fine and out of danger.

Journalists were not allowed to talk to the world javelin champion, with the hospital's management saying he was undergoing tests and needed overnight rest and observation.

"God is living and great! I'm OK my people. Can't believe am alive. @mungu yupo! I'm in stable condition," Yego posted on Facebook.

Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret where world javelin champion Julius Yego was admitted after an accident that happened at around 10pm on October 23, 2016. PHOTO | WYCLIFF KIPSANG | NATION MEDIA GROUP

HE'S OKAY

"He is okay only that doctors advised he should relax till morning," world 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop, who was among the first people at the scene of the accident, told the Nation.

Kiprop himself was involved in a similarly nasty accident on the Kabarnet-Iten road two years ago, with his BMW X6 being written off.

Kiprop lamented that just last week, another athlete, Andrew Rotich, also survived a road accident.

"What a stupid week," Kiprop, also the 2008 Olympic 1,500m champion, posted.

"Two days after Andrew Rotich got involved in an accident, Julius Yego tonight again got involved. God protect us. We thank God they are safe," Kiprop said in his post.

Yego, 27, who won the world javelin title in Beijing in 2015, suffered an injury during the final of his speciality event at August's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

But despite the injury that forced him to miss successive throws, he still bagged a silver medal, Kenya's first Olympic field events medal.

In Beijing, the two-time Africa champion broke the Africa and Commonwealth record with a massive throw of 92.72 metres, which was the best throw in the world since 2006.

On Saturday, Yego, who also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, had told the Nation that he was just beginning his build-up to the new 2017 season in which he hopes to defend his world title at the IAAF World Championships that will be held at the iconic Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London.

It is in the same stadium that Yego became the first Kenyan to reach an Olympic field events final during the 2012 London Games.

Yego rapidly developed in the sport under legendary Finnish coach Petteri Piironen, who worked on his technique at the Kuortane Olympic Training Centre in Finland where he was on a scholarship programme.

The Kenya Police Service officer has concentrated his training between his Kapsabet home and Eldoret, where he lives with his wife Sincy and son Jarvis.