LONDON, England, November 16- It was during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City that Kipchoge Keino announced his arrival on the world stage.
The Kenyan athlete was one of the stars of the games as he cruised to victory in the final of the 1,500 Meters, crushing the favourite and then world record holder, America’s Jim Ryun, in the process.
“The third lap I took off and opened a gap – the final lap I was forty meters ahead and they only close to twenty meters,” he says of his now legendary victory.
Kipchoge’s Olympic success saw him become a household name across the globe and a hero to people all over Africa.
In a glittering career that followed, Keino won 3,000m gold in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, as well as three top medals in the Commonwealth Games.
He was also the first African to run a mile in under four minutes and hold the world records for both the 3,000 and 5,000m events.
But with his track career now well and truly behind him, the 71 year old now spends his time focusing on his other passions — namely philanthropy and encouraging Africa’s next generation of star athletes.
Shaped by his own experiences as a young child, Kipchoge decided to open an orphanage in Eldoret, Kenya in 1973.
“My mother died when I was young – 3 years old,” he says. “I could feel a pinch and a heart for somebody who doesn’t have parents, so I started the children[s] home.” The project was small to begin with but soon expanded to encompass a primary school, a secondary school.
Then in 2007, Keino opened an elite sporting academy with the aim of encouraging talented young Kenyan athletes to reach their full potential.
With a lifetime of wisdom and success and behind him, Keino says he hopes his projects will enable him to pass on his experiences to the next generation of Kenyans.
Most important of all however, he explains that he hopes to give those in his schools love and confidence, whilst instilling them with a sense of respect for themselves.
“Taking care of those people to be good members of society, to be able to do something, to be able to have a better life like any other children with their parents” is what is most vital, he says.
Courtesy:CNN AFRICAN VOICES
The interview can be viewed through this link
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2011/11/14/african-voices-kipchoge-keino-olympics.cnn
