The 2022 World Athletics Championships ended in relative disappointment for Kenya, which continued its decline in the overall medal standings. Since the 2005 championships in Helsinki, when Kenya ranked ninth with only seven medals, the team has been exceptionally consistent. It has ranked in the top three in all subsequent competitions.
What’s behind the decline? Firstly, poor local team selection due to a number of athletes committing to a punishing international running schedule. And an increase in doping-related suspensions of top Kenyan runners. Plus other countries have become more competitive in the Kenya-dominated long-distance races. Uganda is rising, as is a revamped Ethiopia.
It’s my view that like many Kenyan professionals who work abroad and remit huge portions of their earnings back to Kenya in the form of investments, welfare support and gifts, runners should be embraced in a similar manner. They are professionals who are doing their best to elevate their economic well-being and that of their families.
Secondly, some move on marital grounds to run for the homeland of their spouses. Running for the country of a spouse provides opportunities for permanent settlement to also raise a family. Spoilt for choice There’s another reason I believe Kenyans don’t need to see talent migration as the biggest challenge to its medal prospects: Kenya is not short of talent. It taps young athletes from its vibrant inter-school competitions every year. The first hurdle these new entrants face is international competition rules which restrict entries to three and sometimes four athletes from a country. Qualifying for international competitions is a nightmare for many new runners.
Kenya has a sufficient running pool for runners like Salpeter to represent other countries and still sustain its status as a global powerhouse in athletics.