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Rugby legend Humphrey Kayange has described how special it was to award Olympics medals to Kenyan athletes Beatrice Chebet and Faith Kipyegon as well as the Fiji rugby sevens team.
Kenyan rugby legend Humphrey Kayange has termed the medal presentations he did at the Paris Olympics as one of the highlights of his career.
Kayange, who is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member by virtue of his position in the Athletes’ Commission, was among former Olympians who were in Paris and he had the honour of doing medal presentations twice.
The former Shujaa captain presented the silver medal to the Fiji sevens rugby team after they had lost out to France before a special moment when he presented the women’s 5,000m medallists with the race having been won by Kenyan Beatrice Chebet while Faith Kipyegon won silver ahead of Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan.
“I had chosen that one, I had said I would want to do the 5,000m not knowing how it would go,” Kayange told SportPesa.
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“Then we got the 5,000m running and whatever happened to Faith [disqualified then reinstated] and Beatrice going out and [Kenya] winning gold and silver and I was like you never choose certain moments.
“They happen and knowing Beatrice and Faith personally, I was really happy to be the one to present their medals to them and what they have done for the country.”
Kayange then weighed in on his medal presentation for Fiji, who won silver in sevens rugby, describing it a huge moment since some of the players were his opponents when he played.
“When the call came through, I was like; ‘ooh this is huge’ but I am happy to do that,” he added.
“The a few hours before we went out, South Africa won the bronze and my colleague who was doing the bronze was from South Africa and he came on and asked if I could move on and do silver for Fiji who lost out to France in the final so I was happy to do it.
“Fiji and South Africa are still close to me and it was really humbling, seeing Jerry [Tuwai] some of the players whom I have played with, awarding them medals was for me, I talk about highlights in my career, that was another highlight that really goes very close to what Singapore [Sevens 2016 win] was.”
Kayange, who retired in 2018, is one of the most celebrated rugby players in Kenya, after captaining Shujaa to the 2008 and 2013 World Cup as well as the 2016 Rio Olympics and represented the country for 12 years at various international competitions.
His highlight was winning the 2016 Singapore Sevens leg, reaching the 2009 and 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-final as well as playing a key role in lobbying for rugby sevens inclusion in the Olympics, starting with the 2016 edition.
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