Athletics Kenya feuds with Kenyan athletes

For years, the IAAF World Cross Country Championships have been dominated by Kenya and Ethiopia. More often than not, over the last 20 years, it has been the Kenyans who have come out on top in the team standings. A major part of the Kenyan’s approach has been a mandatory national team training camp leading up to the championships. (The other major part, of course, has been being home to a huge number of the world’s best distance runners.)

Unsurprisingly, there have been tensions between Athletics Kenya and the athletes, with the athletes seeking greater freedom to train and race as they choose. Tensions have been particularly heated this year, with two of Kenya’s top prospects chafing against the rules imposed upon them.

First, immediately following a dominant performance at the Kenyan national championships, 2:04:54 marathoner Geoffrey Mutai announced that he would not join the Kenyan training camp. Mutai’s training plan is designed to prepare himself for both the cross-country championships and also the Boston marathon, which he plans to run four weeks later. He did not feel that the Kenyan team training would allow him to properly prepare for the marathon, and so he requested leave to train on his own, away from the team. The general manager of Athletics Kenya declined that request. Mutai told IAAF reporters that he will sacrifice his place on the Kenyan team if necessary, to avoid interference with his marathon training. It is currently uncertain whether Mutai will be allowed to run the cross-country championships.

Now a new battle is brewing, as Leonard Komen — the only man to run sub-27 minutes for a road 10K — plans to defy a direct order from Athletics Kenya and race in the World’s Best 10K in Puerto Rico. Reuters reports that Athletics Kenya General Secretary David Okeyo expects all Kenyan athletes to skip the 10K race, and “if they don’t, [he] will drop them from the national cross country team.” As of Friday, Komen still intended to run the race.

Both cases illustrate the tension between the top-down bureaucracy of the national athletics federations, and the desire of athletes to pursue their own training programs. Considering the money that stars like Mutai and Komen can make in the road racing scene, it is no surprise that these runners are feeling less and less interested in bowing to the demands of their national athletics federation. We will wait and see how Athletics Kenya responds, and whether these athletes are eventually allowed to represent their country at the world championships.