Sports family firmly united in mourning Isaiah Kiplagat

Past and present senior sports administrators have described fallen former Athletics Kenya president Isaiah Kiplagat as a hero, resilient person and principled manager, who worked overtime to cultivate the successes currently witnessed in track and field.

Kiplagat, 72, succumbed to cancer at his Nairobi home Wednesday morning, drawing curtains on his administrative career at the helm of Kenya’s most successful sports body spanning three decades.

Former Kenya Rugby Union chairman Mwangi Muthee said the veteran administrator had been “persecuted in the alter of public opinion” for committing few mistakes despite his consistent positive contribution.

“It is easier to castigate people because of a few mistakes, but overall, Kiplagat did so much for sports in Kenya. He was the main man behind Kenya’s successful bid to award Kenya both the cross country championships in Mombasa (held in 2007) and next year’s World Youth Championship. He literally organised, presented and protected those bids,” Muthee said.

Another veteran administrator, former Football Kenya Federation president Sam Nyamweya, hailed Kiplagat for consistently producing world class athletes.

“He was someone you could only admire because of the consistent success of athletes in this country. All these achievements we witnessed at the (Rio) Olympics are part of his work,” Nyamweya said.

Nyamweya’s successor, Nick Mwendwa, added that Kiplagat seemed to know how to bring success without necessarily talking much about his plans or successes.

“We recognise his efforts and can only strive to emulate him,” Mwendwa said.

Kenya Hockey Union vice chairperson, Elynah Shiveka, described Kiplagat, who died aged 72, as a person who never kept grudges.

She said: “We clashed severally on principle, especially during my stint as a young reporter. But we later became good friends and I really admired his principles, he was never scared to pursue what he really wanted.”

Kenya Table Tennis Association president Andrew Mudibo also eulogised Kiplagat as an “experienced sports administrator who worked over time to instil discipline among professional athletes”.

“Kiplagat was also one of the very few sports administrators who was held in high regard by the international bodies,” Mudibo said.