If we do not invest in our athletes, we shouldn’t hit the roof when they change nationality
Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 10th World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland on August 9, 2005 Martin Meissner | AFP
What you need to know:
- At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Cherono further endeared himself to Kenyan athletics fans, graduating to the senior ranks in style by winning gold medal in 3,000m steeplechase
- The athlete born and bred in Keiyo shocked the whole nation when he switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003 and went ahead to change his name
- Very few sportsmen will resist the temptation to take up foreign nationalities in return for financial gain the way Dennis Oliech did in 2004 when he had the chance to be a citizen of Qatar
In many ways, athletes in Kenya are comparable to orphans living with foster parents. Like an orphan, most of the time you have a love-hate relationship with your local federation and the government.
And yes, most of the time you endure so much heartache and missed opportunities to advance your fledgling career while people either in government or at your national federation, who are paid a salary to build structures for talent development, actually work to stifle your progress through their action and inaction.
In this part of the world, whether you are in a team sport or you compete as an individual, your success will mostly be achieved in spite of the government or your national federation, not because of it.
Which is why I cringe whenever I see sportsmen and women being flayed for choosing to represent one country over another in international competitions. Take the example of two-time world 3,000 metres steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono) who ditched the Kenyan passport and took up Qatari citizenship in 2003.
Heir to the throne
During the inaugural edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics held in 1999 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Cherono endeared himself to Kenyans when he won boys 2,000m steeplechase title ahead of Ethiopia’s Luleseged Wale. Cherono was part of a jubilant team Kenya that returned home from the track and field championship days later to rousing welcome, having finished on top of the medals table with 10 medals (five gold, two silver and three bronze) ahead of global powerhouses Russia, China and USA.
In him, Kenyan athletics fans saw a befitting successor to Wilson Boit Kipketer, Moses Kiptanui and Bernard Barmasai who had completed a clean sweep for Kenya in the water and barriers race at the 1997 World Athletics Championships in that order. Kenya’s stranglehold in the steeplechase seemed destined to continue. Two years later, Cherono went even further and set a world junior record in his specialty.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Cherono further endeared himself to Kenyan athletics fans, graduating to the senior ranks in style by winning gold medal in 3,000m steeplechase ahead of compatriots Ezekiel Kemboi and Abraham Cherono.
But unbeknown to many Kenyans, his heart was elsewhere.
The athlete born and bred in Keiyo shocked the whole nation when he switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003 and went ahead to change his name. Cherono, now retired and back in Kenya, has never come out to clear the air but one account has it that Qatar had offered him $1 million (equivalent of Sh109 million by today’s exchange rates) to change citizenship, while another has it that he was offered $1,000 (Sh109,050) every month for the rest of his life.
More heartbreak would follow for Kenyans when Cherono, now competing for the Gulf nation as Saif Saaeed Shaheen, dethroned reigning champion Reuben Kosgei of Kenya to win gold at the 2003 World Athletics Championships held in Saint-Denis, France.Ezekiel Kemboi claimed silver medal but that performance left Kenyans seething with rage.
Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar clears a hurdle on his way to win the men's 3000 metre steeplechase, at the 10th World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, on August 9, 2005.
Kenyan fans labeled Cherono a turncoat and hurled all manner of epithets at him. A rule by International Olympics Committee that athletes may not compete in international events for three years after representing one country in an international event locked Cherono from 2004 Olympics in Athens, where Kemboi led Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech in a 1-2-3 Kenyan finish in steeplechase.
Cherono was plagued by injuries and his career went south afterwards, but many Kenyan fans could not care less.
In retrospect, I think we were unnecessarily harsh on Cherono and others (in no particular order) like Wilson Kosgei Kipketer (Dane), Bernard Lagat, Hillary Bor, Leonard Korir, Paul Chelimo, Shadrack Kipchirchir (all Americans), Lorna Kiplagat (Dutch), Lornah Chemtai Salpeter (Israeli) and Ruth Jebet (Bahraini).
If we do not invest in our athletes, we should not hit the roof when they take up other nationalities. Very few sportsmen will resist the temptation to take up foreign nationalities in return for financial gain the way Dennis Oliech did in 2004 when he had the chance to be a citizen of Qatar.
