Kenyan sports sensations emerged to rule the world

When Cesc Fabregas got off the bench to fire the Gunners to a thumping victory over a stubborn Aston Villa last weekend, I could only marvel at the Arsenal captain’s sheer ingenuity.

In sports, as in politics, there’s always one moment of brilliance which turns the pattern of a game or the destiny of a people. Often, pride is at stake. Take, for instance, Raila Odinga’s march from Kanu in 2002 with a gang of political heavyweights to form Narc. Though a loose ‘coalition of tribes’ it was, its superb grassroots campaign brought down the powerful Moi regime.

Across the Atlantic, the one moment we will always cherish in the past decade - which cuts across sports, politics, corruption, et al – is Barack Obama, a polished basketballer, taking the baton from the near nincompoop Texas rancher George Bush to become the “leader of the Free World”. The world stood still to welcome the first black US president, whom we jealously – and unashamedly – claimed as one of our own.

At the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Arsenal fans had their tail between their legs after an even first half against a side breathing down their neck. It was the Spaniard, inevitably, who picked the lock with typical dexterity, his cameo showing as explosive as any witnessed in the English Premier League in many seasons.

Such moments are rare and far between and stick in the mind like glue. In the past decade, we walked tall as our sports stars blazed the trail and made us proud with their track and field exploits. Many still recall with nostalgia the giant-slaying national cricket team at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The Steve Tikolo-led charges did the unthinkable to reach the semi-finals before Sourav Ganguly’s India brought our fairytale run to a screeching halt.

That great run captured the imagination of the nation and, for once, we all forgot our political and economic woes and were united by the safety valves of cricket as we always do whenever our world-beating athletes bring glory home.

Tikolo’s men inspired many. A colleague on the desk, Chris Tsuma, who covered the 2003 World Cup, could not have put it better on the man who meticulously spearheaded the Kenyan charge that rocked the top order of world cricket: “Tikolo’s off-spin hauled in crucial wickets, but it was his batting that really had tongues wagging in admiration.”

Like many other Kenyans, the Nation had underestimated the team and Tsuma was dispatched to South Africa on a lean budget to cover “just the preliminary round”. But as Kenya continued claiming scalp after scalp of the big shots, poor Tsuma found himself at the risk of not only starving but being homeless.

Giant-killing act

But the giant-killing act of his national team and the pride that followed provided solace and endurance to overcome even the most difficult of situations before the ‘emergency stimulus package’ was wired his way.

Tikolo and Co. may not have won the World Cup, but they returned home to a hero’s welcome. Traditional dancers, acrobats and beauty queens, as well as thousands of fans, packed the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and lined the streets to cheer them.

Then Sports minister Najib Balala said of the team’s feat: “Kenya did not win the World Cup but we certainly won many hearts all over the world. Steve and the boys united the whole country. We are a power to reckon with.”

Hot on the heels of the cricket magic a man emerged from one of Africa’s largest slums to steer Harambee Stars to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. Dennis “The Menace” Oliech unleashed a thunderous shot against a tiny, but gritty, Cape Verde in the final match of the qualifiers to see Stars through. The Mathare lad had also scored several crucial goals in the qualifiers to become one of the best strikers Kenya has ever produced.

Unfortunately, Stars’ later Nations Cup campaigns came a cropper, mainly due to a rudderless federation dogged by constant infighting and mismanagement. But the sideshows did not – and have not – affected Oliech, who has stood high above terra firma in his game. Francis Kimanzi, who coached him in the 2010 World Cup/Nations Cup campaign, attributes Oliech’s consistency over the decade to his maturity and character.

“Dennis has matured over the years and that’s why he has been able to stay at the top,” says Kimanzi. “Despite development in skill, these days he also accepts mistakes, relates well with his colleagues and has become a better professional. I have watched him from Mathare United to Qatar and now France. Dennis’s maturity [in age] has been the driving force behind his success.”

Seven minutes of fame

It’s the decade in which Pamela Jelimo rose, like a rose flower, from a sleepy village near Kapsabet to become the first Kenyan to win the IAAF Golden League Jackpot, pocketing a cool Sh78 million – in only seven races.

Bolting from the blues, Jelimo did not just win but she grabbed the prize with the force of a quivering magnetic arrow. In her specialty, the 800m, she was peerless. It was a first in Kenyan athletics and Jelimo was quickly christened “Kapsabet Express”. But alas! A year later she had vanished from the radar as mysteriously as she had appeared.

In the pool, Jason Dunford gave the nation some seven minutes of fame when he shattered Michael Phelps’s record at the Beijing Olympics. Yes, the Phelps, he who so grabbed medal after medal in Beijing one would have thought he was an offspring of a mermaid.

Dunford, predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter, did not win an Olympic medal, but the talented youngster had made us proud a year earlier at the All Africa Games in Algiers. “The Eel”, as he’s fondly known by his peers, returned home with seven medals. You would have been forgiven for thinking there was a ‘typing error’ in the medal standings whenever the name “Kenya” appeared beside a swimming medal.