KORIR: Let us honour all our athletes who stand out

There are those days when I would feel really proud to be Kenyan and last weekend was one of such moments, as our athletes reigned supreme during the IAAF World Half Marathon in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Apart from the men’s team title, Kenyans won all other gold medals on offer. For a moment, I forgot about myself, just to celebrate them. Even more breathtaking was the women’s 1-2-3-4-5 finish, which once again underlined Kenya’s supremacy in distance running.

And in as much as Kenyan sweeps are normal, this particular one, and on the world stage, was quite phenomenal. The unity with which the athletes, especially women had as they dissented on the streets of Copenhagen, also caught my eye.

The image of the five women dashing to the finish line will forever remain in my memory.

It was a very happy moment especially when the Kenyan flag was hoisted as the national anthem was sang three out of four times. Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor clocked 59min 07sec to win the men’s race ahead of Eritrea’s Samuel Tsegay (59:20) and Ethiopia’s Guye Adola (59:20) while Gladys Cherono took top honours in the women’s race in 1hr 07min 28sec with other Kenyans following in the order —Mary Wacera Ngugi (1:07:43), Selly Chepyego Kaptich (1:07:51), Lucy Kabuu (1:08:37 and Mary Cherotich (1:08:42).

STATE'S AWARD SCHEME

But even as I celebrate, I have a fight with the Government. Surely, why is it that an international event such as this has never been considered for the State’s awards scheme? The Government has only recognised the Olympic Games, World Championships, All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games and selected junior events.

Nothing has been said about the World Half Marathon yet Kenyans have continued to dominate the event since inception.

The best the athletes have received is a luncheon hosted by Athletics Kenya which has also been occasional. Isn’t it time the government and stakeholders classified all races so that all deserving events are included in the awards scheme? It is unfair to award some athletes and leave out others, yet all have represented the country.

In fact, I am surprised that Kenyans don’t seem to know that the World Half Marathon is bigger in terms of profile than the big five marathons - London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

Actually, the event is part of the World Championships only that you can’t run the world marathon and half marathon in the same forum, hence the difference in calendar year. Once again I congratulate the team and I hope the Government will remember them this year.

Barnabas Korir, AK Nrb chairman ([email protected])