Violence claims ex-Kenyan Olympian Sang

Kenya8217;s post-election violence could adversely affect the country8217;s athletics nursery...

Kenya8217;s post-election violence could adversely affect the country8217;s athletics nursery, situated in Eldoret, nearabouts of where violence has broken out.

Eldoret is known as the cradle of middle and long distance running, and at this point the Kenyans are preparing for the Edinburgh world cross country championships on March 30. A majority of the country8217;s top athletes either train or live in Eldoret, which is at an altitude of 2000m and has undulating landscape 8211; considered to be the best for middle and long distance running.

On Monday, violence claimed the life of former Olympic middle distance runner Luka Sang, and apprehension hangs heavy in the air. If violence continues, it will be difficult to train hard. 8220;Hope things will cool down fast,8221; Ian Keino, an official of the Kipkeino Foundation in Eldoret, told The Indian Express over phone from Eldoret.

The Kipkeino Foundation was set up by Kipchoge Keino, a world and Olympic champion in distance running 3000m steeplechase, and an Olympian from 1964 to 1972.

In the last edition of the world cross country meet in Mombasa, Kenya had won three out of four titles.

The month of January is considered to be peak season for cross country. The season starts in October and culminates in February in Nairobi with the national championships.

Ian said: 8220;Some areas are badly affected, some are not. Luckily, our centre is 15km away from the main Eldoret city. And has not been effected as other areas, but we are careful.8221;

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At the foundation, there are at least 36 top athletes training for various upcoming international competitions including the world cross country championships. There are also 80 children at the Kipkeino High School at the same venue. Sang was a member of Kenyan 4x400m team to the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His body was identified by 2000 Sydney Olympics 1500m champion Noah Ngeny.

8220;He Sang was among those killed in an indiscriminate riot on Monday,8221; Ngeny was quoted as saying by the East African Standard.

Sang, after retirement from athletics, became a successful large-scale farmer in Moiben, Uasin Gishu District which is not far from Eldoret.

Besides Kipkeino foundation, International Association of Athletics Federation IAAF has set up its High Performance Training Centre HPTC8212;centre of excellence for middle and long distance running. Several past and present World and Olympic champions have trained at Eldoret.

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The centre has bare minimum of facilities 8212;- one cinder track and weight room, yet it is very popular with top athletes.

Despite repeated efforts there wasn8217;t any response from the HPCT office. It wasn8217;t known whether athletes have taken few days off training, or shifted elsewhere.