Event stepping stone to greatness, for most

When Leonard Kirwa Kosencha took 2011 Lille World Youth Championships by storm, he was billed as the next David Rudisha.

What with a start-to-finish victory in the 800m final in a time of 44.08 seconds, then a world youth record, leaving Mohammed Aman and Timothy Kitum by the wayside.

Starting the 2012 season by winning the Diamond League in Shanghai in May and reducing his personal best time to 1:43.40 at the Monaco Herculis Diamond League two months later looked to cement Kosencha as the king of the future.

However, that was not to be. Kosencha disappeared from the radar as soon as he had appeared.

As the World U-18 championships winds up on Sunday, Kenya will only hope the newly born stars will shine brighter in the big upcoming big events.

While a good number of youths successfully land at the senior career level, some who seemingly had a bright future, disappear never to be seen.

Pius Maluko won Kenya’s first ever gold medal at the Youth Championships in 1999, finishing ahead of Ethiopia’s great, Kenenisa Bekele in the 3,000m to kick start a golden harvest.

The team set high standards by scooping 10 medals, five of them gold and finishing on top of the table.

Despite the outstanding performance, little is known about the gold medallists Nicholas Wachira, Cornelius Chirchir and Pius Muli who beat Bekele. Stephen Cherono (now Saif Saaeed Shaheen) on the other side went on to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2003 in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase before switching his allegiance to Qatar.

Cherono proved that his victory at the World Youths was no fluke by winning two steeplechase world titles for the Gulf nation and setting a world record in the race of 7:53.63 which stands to date.

Alice Timbilil, became the first Kenyan girl to win gold at the Youths, relegating Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar and Vivian Cheruiyot to second and third respectively in the 10,000m.

Sylvia Kibet won silver in girls’ 1,500m. For Defar and Vivian, the rest, as they say is history but the same cannot be said of Timbilil. Efforts by the youngster to climb the career ladder bore no fruits as she represented Kenya in two subsequent Olympic Games without a podium finish.

In the list of Team Kenya to the second World Youths in 2001 in Hungary were Brimin Kipruto, Isaac Songok, David Kirwa, David Kilel, James Kwalia, Cosmas Rono, Sally Kaptich, Cherotich Ruto, Florence Kyalo and Fridah Domongole. Kenya won four gold medals at the championships, courtesy of Songok, Kirwa, Ruto and Kaptich, four silvers and two bronze, again finishing second behind United States.

However, out of the 12 teenagers, only Kipruto, Songok, Kwalia and Kaptich can look back at their careers with a smile.

Kipruto won silver behind Ezekiel Kemboi when Kenya swept the 3,000m steeplechase race at the Athens Olympics in 2004 before winning gold four years later.

After winning 1,500m in a World Junior record in 2001, Songok, who hails from Nandi village of Kabirirsang, has had a mixture of results with team gold and bronze and individual bronze at the World Cross Country Championships. For Kilel, 3,000m silver medal at the World Youth remains the only major title before he switched to half marathon on 2007.

In 2005, the championships were held for the first time in Africa in Morocco and Kenya went back to position two with five gold and five silver medals. Abel Mutai maintained Kenya’s unbeaten run in the boys’ 2,000m steeplechase with a World Youth record of 5:24.69 ahead of Bisluke Kipkorir and Morocco’s Abdelghani Bahmad, who was competing on home soil.

Girls outdid the boys with three gold medals, courtesy of Teresa Kwamboka (800m), Sheila Chepkirui (1,500m) and Veronica Nyaruai (3,000m) with Winny Chebet and Pauline Korikwiang bagging silvers.

Mutai’s most successful moment remains the London Olympics where he won bronze behind Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad and Ezekiel Kemboi.

Bisluke Kiplagat, who won silver behind Mutai, finished in the same position at the World Junior Championships the following year, which became the last world title of his career.

TOPPED STANDINGS

In the 2009 World Youth, Kenya recorded their best performance, a top-of-the-table finish with 14 medals - six gold, seven silver and one bronze.

Gideon Mageka led Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku in a 1-2 finish in 1,500m, Isaiah Kiplagat and David Bett did the same in 3,000m before Hillary Kipsang and Peter Kibet followed in their footsteps in the 2,000m steeplechase.

Cherono Koech (800m), Nelly Chebet (1500m) and Purity Rionoripo (3,000m) were the golden girls of Kenya in Brixen, Italy.

Out of the list, Ndiku and Kiplagat, have had solid performance at the senior level. Ndiku has eight individual gold medals and junior team gold he won at the 2010 World Cross Country.

Koech followed his performance in Brixen by winning silver at the 2014 African Championships and bronze at the World Championships.

His attempts at Olympic Games glory have been unsuccessful, finishing fourth in 2012 finals and 2016 where he didn’t qualify for the finals. According to Athletics Kenya national youth chairman Barnabas Korir, several factors are to blame for the quick rise and quick fall of Kenyan athletes stars.

“Most of them are unprepared for the successes that come with athletics - lots of money and fame and they end up losing focus. Some are unlucky to get serious injuries while others drop from school and end up with bad company. Sometimes, training facilities like shoes and tracksuits are beyond their reach and only a few of them can afford them,” said Korir.

From the 2011 Youth team, Conseslus Kipruto and Faith Chepng'etich are just two of the athletes who were together with Kosencha at the runway and who took off and never looked back. Things could not have been better for Kipruto who has now established himself as the man to beat in the 3,000m steeplechase.

At the 2012 World Junior championships Kipruto bagged his second career gold and won Kenya’s 13th straight title in the event and ranked fourth on the all-time junior lists with a run of eight minutes 06.10 seconds, which was also a championship record.

Besides two World silver medals and securing back-to-back titles at the IAAF Diamond League, Kipruto floored Ezekiel Kemboi – one of the greatest steeplechasers of all time – at 2016 Rio Olympic.

Chepng'etich has also blossomed, winning seven gold medals since 2011 and bagging silver at the 2015 World Championships before obliterating Genzebe Dibaba at the Rio Olympics.

Korir urges the government to put more efforts in sports as it is the country's selling point at the global stage.