AFRICA IN BEIJING - KENYA FOCUS
The Beijing Games were not only special for headline-grabbers such as Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt - who broke the 100m, 200m and 4x100m world records on the way to triple gold - and Michael Phelps - the American swimmer who won a record eight gold medals - but also for the African nations, and in particular Kenya.
In August, the East African country, who first competed at the Olympics in 1956, won the most medals in their history, finishing 15th in the medals table and top of the continent's tree, beating northern rivals Ethiopia, who ended 18th.
The five gold, five silver and four bronze medals was Kenya's most successful medal haul, trumping the achievements of the 1988 Seoul Games, when they won five gold, two silver and two bronze. And it was also special as it was the first time the women got in on the gold rush.
Wilfred Bungei, the men's 800m runner, finally fulfilled his potential and peaked at the right time by storming to gold at this year's Games. The 28-year-old had finished second in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, six years ago, but had been out of the medals in major competitions until Beijing. He finished fifth in the Olympic Games four years ago in Athens, and followed it up by coming fourth in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, and fifth in Oskaka, Japan, last year.
In the women's 800m, Pamela Jelimo announced her arrival on the international scene with some style. In her first major competition, the 18-year-old backed up her win in the African Games in Addis Ababa earlier in the year by starting Kenya's gold rush at the Games, and in the process become the country's first ever female Olympic champion.
Jelimo, nicknamed the "Kapsabet Express", was unstoppable in the two-lap event, and was followed home by compatriot and reigning world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, 24, to hand Kenya a one-two finish. Not even Olympic legend Maria Mutola of Mozambique came close to rubbing shoulders with the Kenyans.
The 1,500m runner Nancy Langat, after not reaching the Olympic finals at Athens in 2004 or the 2005 World Championships, collected Kenya's women their second gold. Married to marathon runner Kenneth Cheruiyot, Langat, 27, had a double celebration as her eldest son turned six on the same day she won her medal.
Other Kenyan women to win Olympic medals include Pauline Konga, who bagged silver in the 5,000m at Atlanta 1996; Isabella Ochichi, who achieved the same at Athens 2004; and Joyce Chepchumba, who clinched marathon bronze at 2000 Sydney.
Brimin Kipruto went one better than he managed in Athens four years ago by winning gold in the 3,000m steeplechase in Beijing. The 23-year-old won the gold medal at the World Championships in Osaka and has now underlined his supremacy in the event.
And Japan-based Samuel Wanjiru, 22, closed the Games in style for Kenya by winning the 42km marathon race in 2:06.32, setting a new Olympic record. Wanjiru, who hails from Nyahururu, followed in the footsteps of Douglas Wakiihuri and Erick Wainaina - silver medallists in 1988 and 2000 respectively - sustaining the tradition of Kenyans training in Japan and making a big impression in Olympic marathons.
Marathon runner Catherine Ndereba, 36, was among the silver medallists for Kenya - the same medal she achieved in Athens four years ago. The 19-year-old Asbel Kiprop looks one for the future after coming second in the 1,500m, while 3,000m steepchaser Eunice Jepkorir, 26, and 23-year-old 5,000m runner Eliud Kipchoge also won silver medals. Richard Mateelong, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi, Alfred Yego and Micah Kogo completed Kenya's medal tally by taking bronzes.
KENYAN MEDALS
FIVE GOLD
Wilfred Bungei (800m M)
Pamela Jelimo (800m W)
Nancy Langat (1,500m W)
Samuel Wanjiru (Marathon M)
Brimin Kipruto (3,000m Steeplechase M)
FIVE SILVER
Janeth Jepkosgei (800m W)
Asbel Kiprop (1,500m M)
Eliud Kipchoge (5,000m M)
Catherine Ndereba (Marathon W)
Eunice Jepkorir (3,000m Steeplechase W)
FOUR BRONZE
Alfred Kirwa (800m M)
Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (5,000m M)
Micah Kogo (10,000 M)
Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (3,000m Steeplechase M)
AFRICAN RANKINGS
Country Golds Silvers Bronzes Total (overall ranking)
Kenya 5 5 4 14 15
Ethiopia 4 1 2 7 18
Zimbabwe 1 3 0 4 38
Cameroon 1 0 0 1 52
Tunisia 1 0 0 1 52
Nigeria 0 1 3 4 61
Algeria 0 1 1 2 65
Morocco 0 1 1 2 65
Sudan 0 1 0 1 71
S. Africa 0 1 0 1 71
Togo 0 0 1 1 81
Egypt 0 0 1 1 81
Mauritius 0 0 1 1 81
ROUND-UP OF OTHER AFRICAN SUCCESSES
Kenya's rivals Ethiopia dominated the men's and women's 5,000m and 10,000m with Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba respectively. Both athletes doubled up and were firm favourites. Bekele, 26, won gold in the 10,000m in Athens four years ago and has won the last three World Championships, while Dibaba is world champion in the 10,000m and won bronze in Athens when only 19.
Swimmer Kirsty Coventry, 24, won all four of Zimbabwe's medals - one more than she won in Athens. She was victorious in the 200m backstroke and finished runner-up in the 100m backstroke (despite setting a world record of 58.77 seconds in the semi-final), 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley.
Oussama Mellouli became Tunisia's hero as he clinched gold in the 1,500m freestyle in his first Games.
And Françoise Mbango Etone won Cameroon their only medal when she retained her gold medal in the triple jump.
BRIGHT FUTURE FOR KENYA
Despite the troubled times Kenya have experienced domestically, there is much to look forward to in terms of athletics. Kenya's most successful Olympic Games will inspire the country's youngsters and many more gold medals are likely to follow in four years when the Olympic torch reaches London. In 2012, the likes of Jelimo, Jepkosgei, Wanjiru, Kipruto, Kipchoge, Kiprop, Soi, Yego and Kogo will all still be under 29 and the gold rush will surely continue.
The Beijing Games were not only special for headline-grabbers such as Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt - who broke the 100m, 200m and 4x100m world records on the way to triple gold - and Michael Phelps - the American swimmer who won a record eight gold medals - but also for the African nations, and in particular Kenya.
In August, the East African country, who first competed at the Olympics in 1956, won the most medals in their history, finishing 15th in the medals table and top of the continent's tree, beating northern rivals Ethiopia, who ended 18th.
The five gold, five silver and four bronze medals was Kenya's most successful medal haul, trumping the achievements of the 1988 Seoul Games, when they won five gold, two silver and two bronze. And it was also special as it was the first time the women got in on the gold rush.
Wilfred Bungei, the men's 800m runner, finally fulfilled his potential and peaked at the right time by storming to gold at this year's Games. The 28-year-old had finished second in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, six years ago, but had been out of the medals in major competitions until Beijing. He finished fifth in the Olympic Games four years ago in Athens, and followed it up by coming fourth in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, and fifth in Oskaka, Japan, last year.
In the women's 800m, Pamela Jelimo announced her arrival on the international scene with some style. In her first major competition, the 18-year-old backed up her win in the African Games in Addis Ababa earlier in the year by starting Kenya's gold rush at the Games, and in the process become the country's first ever female Olympic champion.
Jelimo, nicknamed the "Kapsabet Express", was unstoppable in the two-lap event, and was followed home by compatriot and reigning world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, 24, to hand Kenya a one-two finish. Not even Olympic legend Maria Mutola of Mozambique came close to rubbing shoulders with the Kenyans.
The 1,500m runner Nancy Langat, after not reaching the Olympic finals at Athens in 2004 or the 2005 World Championships, collected Kenya's women their second gold. Married to marathon runner Kenneth Cheruiyot, Langat, 27, had a double celebration as her eldest son turned six on the same day she won her medal.
Other Kenyan women to win Olympic medals include Pauline Konga, who bagged silver in the 5,000m at Atlanta 1996; Isabella Ochichi, who achieved the same at Athens 2004; and Joyce Chepchumba, who clinched marathon bronze at 2000 Sydney.
Brimin Kipruto went one better than he managed in Athens four years ago by winning gold in the 3,000m steeplechase in Beijing. The 23-year-old won the gold medal at the World Championships in Osaka and has now underlined his supremacy in the event.
And Japan-based Samuel Wanjiru, 22, closed the Games in style for Kenya by winning the 42km marathon race in 2:06.32, setting a new Olympic record. Wanjiru, who hails from Nyahururu, followed in the footsteps of Douglas Wakiihuri and Erick Wainaina - silver medallists in 1988 and 2000 respectively - sustaining the tradition of Kenyans training in Japan and making a big impression in Olympic marathons.
Marathon runner Catherine Ndereba, 36, was among the silver medallists for Kenya - the same medal she achieved in Athens four years ago. The 19-year-old Asbel Kiprop looks one for the future after coming second in the 1,500m, while 3,000m steepchaser Eunice Jepkorir, 26, and 23-year-old 5,000m runner Eliud Kipchoge also won silver medals. Richard Mateelong, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi, Alfred Yego and Micah Kogo completed Kenya's medal tally by taking bronzes.
KENYAN MEDALS
FIVE GOLD
Wilfred Bungei (800m M)
Pamela Jelimo (800m W)
Nancy Langat (1,500m W)
Samuel Wanjiru (Marathon M)
Brimin Kipruto (3,000m Steeplechase M)
FIVE SILVER
Janeth Jepkosgei (800m W)
Asbel Kiprop (1,500m M)
Eliud Kipchoge (5,000m M)
Catherine Ndereba (Marathon W)
Eunice Jepkorir (3,000m Steeplechase W)
FOUR BRONZE
Alfred Kirwa (800m M)
Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (5,000m M)
Micah Kogo (10,000 M)
Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (3,000m Steeplechase M)
AFRICAN RANKINGS
Country Golds Silvers Bronzes Total (overall ranking)
Kenya 5 5 4 14 15
Ethiopia 4 1 2 7 18
Zimbabwe 1 3 0 4 38
Cameroon 1 0 0 1 52
Tunisia 1 0 0 1 52
Nigeria 0 1 3 4 61
Algeria 0 1 1 2 65
Morocco 0 1 1 2 65
Sudan 0 1 0 1 71
S. Africa 0 1 0 1 71
Togo 0 0 1 1 81
Egypt 0 0 1 1 81
Mauritius 0 0 1 1 81
ROUND-UP OF OTHER AFRICAN SUCCESSES
Kenya's rivals Ethiopia dominated the men's and women's 5,000m and 10,000m with Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba respectively. Both athletes doubled up and were firm favourites. Bekele, 26, won gold in the 10,000m in Athens four years ago and has won the last three World Championships, while Dibaba is world champion in the 10,000m and won bronze in Athens when only 19.
Swimmer Kirsty Coventry, 24, won all four of Zimbabwe's medals - one more than she won in Athens. She was victorious in the 200m backstroke and finished runner-up in the 100m backstroke (despite setting a world record of 58.77 seconds in the semi-final), 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley.
Oussama Mellouli became Tunisia's hero as he clinched gold in the 1,500m freestyle in his first Games.
And Françoise Mbango Etone won Cameroon their only medal when she retained her gold medal in the triple jump.
BRIGHT FUTURE FOR KENYA
Despite the troubled times Kenya have experienced domestically, there is much to look forward to in terms of athletics. Kenya's most successful Olympic Games will inspire the country's youngsters and many more gold medals are likely to follow in four years when the Olympic torch reaches London. In 2012, the likes of Jelimo, Jepkosgei, Wanjiru, Kipruto, Kipchoge, Kiprop, Soi, Yego and Kogo will all still be under 29 and the gold rush will surely continue.
Labels: Beijing Olympics, Kenya
