"bring us back our glory" - Ngugi
Kenyan clean-sweeps are what Ngugi (centre) wants again
The Kenyans really are taking the World Cross seriously. With incentives from the KCB to the tune of $30,000 for an individual winner in either the men’s or women’s races. The Kenyan Sports Minister was also there to wave them off to Amman.
Last night’s press conference was a grand affair and I don’t think that we have ever seen a bank chief exec doing a cross country pre-race motivational speech before (!), but KCB’s Martin Oduor-Otieno felt it was apt to say:
You must not get your eyes off the target. Be focused and remember even the team title that has known Kenya more than any other country can slip through your fingers
No pressure then!
It was left to someone who really knows what they are talking about to put things into perspective, and offer the athletes a measured, yet motivational hand on their should. Speaking about the void that has been left since his and John Ngugi’s departure 5-time winner of the World Cross title Paul Tergat said:
It is true that we left a big gap when we moved on. But Kenya has been churning out new talent each day. Attitude has been an issue and now, that has changed, they are all focused and it is a good sign for the things to come
The article in the Daily Nation also states:
In the senior men’s 12 km race, Kenya won the world championships for an astounding 18 years in a row, from 1986 to 2003, a record of unequaled international success.
So, the palpable pressure on this Kenyan team has been building for weeks, if not months, and probably since the drubbing at the hands of the Ethiopians last year in Edinburgh. The talking stops here and the time has come for the new school of Kenyan XC to step up, and demonstrate that the glorious legacy of Rono, Ngugi, Kipkoech and Tergat is not forever gone…
