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Ezekiel Kemboi has urged Kenya to better support its athletes, revealing why he turned down lucrative offers to switch nationalities.
Kenyan steeplechase legend Ezekiel Kemboi is unhappy about the state of the sport in the country as he went down memory lane to how Kenyans once dominated the sport at the World Championships and Olympic Games.
When steeplechase was mentioned, Kenyans always knew it was their race. At the World Championships, they dominated steeplechase from the 2007 Osaka edition to the 2019 Doha edition of the event and Ezekiel Kemboi won four of the titles.
At the Olympic Games, Kenya was no exception as she also raised the bar, winning from the 1964 Mexico Olympics to the 2016 Rio Games and Kemboi claimed two of those titles.
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He noted that many Kenyan steeplechasers prefer competing for other countries due to the prize purse. The four-time world champion disclosed that he was once approached to represent Qatar but due to his love for country, he did not want to make that move despite the millions they were offering.
The two-time Olympic champion further noted that Kenya should appreciate their athletes to ensure the raw talent remains here. A great example is Winfred Yavi who opted to compete for Bahrain due to the immense support they offer her and she is one of the best in the world.
Yavi is the reigning world and Olympic champion, as Kenya struggles to nurture talent to make the national teams in both the women’s and men’s sides.
Faith Cherotich, Jackline Chepkoech and Beatrice Chepkoech have the pressure to live up to the billing. In the men’s side, Abraham Kibiwott and the Serem brothers, Amos and Edmund are holding Kenya’s hopes in the coming years.
“As you can see, most of the athletes have opted to compete in road races due to the prize money but to me, money is nothing. I do sports because I love it,” Ezekiel Kemboi said in an interview with Sports Wave Africa Foundation.
“I was approached a long time ago to run for countries like Qatar but I said no, money would not change my nationality and I will remain like that forever.
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“The athletes should be appreciated more because in other countries when athletes win medals, they are given cars or houses but in Kenya, the appreciation is not enough. We’ve done a lot for this country and we need to be recognised more.”
Kemboi further expressed his anger towards how Kenyans are performing at the moment, noting that the race is now being dominated by Moroccans and Ethiopians.
Soufiane El Bakkali in particular has given Kenyans a run for their money and as far as steeplechase is concerned and he now undoubtedly the face of the event.
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“We have no strong people in Kenya now, you remember during our time we had Brimin Kipruto, Richard Mateelong and myself. I think we need to start up some academies because it was a Kenyan race. But now it has gone to Ethiopia and Morocco and I’m not so happy about that,” Kemboi said.
“So many people stop me to ask about what happened in steeplechase and I retired a long time ago, honorably. We have a lot of young talents and our coaches should identify those who can do steeplechase more than me. It’s for Athletics Kenya and the Olympic Committee to plan and see how things will go and find good coaches.”
The Kenyan legend hopes that in the coming years, things will have changed and Kenya will go back to dominating the world stage just like before.
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