By Drazen Jorgic
NAIROBI, June 23 (Reuters) – Olympic fever intensified in
Kenya on Saturday as jubilant fans pushed against barbed wire
fences and sneaked into press areas to get closer to runners
competing in trials for the London Games.
The biggest cheer came as 800 metres world record-holder
David Rudisha won his trial and did a lap of honour around the
stadium draped in a coat made of colobus monkey skin, a
traditional outfit of his native Maasai tribe.
Kenyan athletics fans, accustomed to seeing their
compatriots win Olympic gold medals in middle and long-distance
races, also gave generous applause to a podgy barefoot runner
who had somehow managed to compete amongst some of the world’s
best over 5,000 metres. He trailed home last and the crowds
clapped him all the way to the finish line.
“I think we can win 10 gold medals in middle and
long-distance competitions in London,” said Frederick Atonya, a
farmer from western Kenya who recently moved to Nairobi.
Atonya, like more than a dozen other fans, came early and
managed to sneak into the press area.
“I like it here. I like to be near the action as I was a
runner myself when I was young,” Atonya explained, as other
eager fans leaned against a barbed wire fence to see Kenyan
athletes interviewed by scores of reporters.
Although the athletes on the track were competing for seats
on the plane to London, for many Kenyan fans this was a
celebration of the country’s success on the running track.
“We are the best, there is no doubt about it,” said another
trespasser into the press enclosure, who declined to give his
name.
In the first qualifying trial of the day, the women 5,000m
race, Kenya’s depth of talent was highlighted by figures showing
that over the past two years all 18 runners had run inside the
15 minute 20 seconds qualifying mark needed for the Olympic
Games.
The expectations in Nairobi were so high some fans suggested
it was not fair Kenya could enter only three athletes per
Olympic event. Others cheekily said that runners outside the top
three places could be loaned to other countries to make them
look good.
Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenya’s 3,000m steeplechase world champion
who finished second in the trials, added to the carnival
atmosphere inside the 30,000 capacity Nyayo National Stadium by
performing a trademark dance to huge cheers from the stands.
“He dances even better when he finishes first,” Atonya
reassured everyone around him.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
