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Former world javelin champion Julius Yego is saddened by the lack of support for non-track athletes in Kenya and feels the country will struggle in field events once he retires.
Five-time African javelin champion Julius Yego has decried the little support offered to athletes in field events, saying the country will struggle in javelin once he exits the stage.
Yego is a self-made star who learned his craft by watching clips on YouTube, earning him the name ‘Mr YouTube’ and despite his rise to prominence over 10 years ago, he is saddened that Kenya is yet to invest fully in field events when he is close to retiring.
“I only hope that one day we get serious support to the field events in this country,” Yego told Pulse Sports.
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“The future is not promising as at now considering that I am almost exiting yet we don't see any support. It's so sad that we might take a long period to get an athlete in javelin who is world class unless the support comes in.”
Yego pointed to his own struggles this season as one of the reasons Kenya is still lagging behind in field events with the future looking bleak.
The 2015 world champion endured a difficult campaign when he qualified for the Olympics through the world rankings with his only win coming from the African Championships, where he claimed a record fifth straight title.
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Injuries and poor form conspired to make his season a nightmare but he rose above them at the Paris Olympics where he threw 87.72m, his season’s best, to finish fifth overall.
“First was the injury that I got at the Kip Keino Classic which put me in the treatment room again, having come back from there three months earlier,” Yego added of his frustrating season.
“It was the lowest moment of my recovery after the long nagging groin injury of 2016. Then came the issue of sponsorship, many people didn't even know that I haven't had a sponsor, be it shoe or just sponsorship for my career since 2017.”
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Nonetheless, Yego, who posted 83m in Lausanne, 78.37m in Doha and missed out of the Diamond League final after a 69.61 throw in Zurich, is still happy with his season as he looks forward to success in 2025.
“Despite the early ups and downs, my season was a success at the end. I had told myself [that] I needed to qualify and be competitive at the Paris Olympics and it came through so I am so happy and I celebrated it at home with family.”
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