Isaiah Kiplagat ran Athletics Kenya for 23 years but was suspended in a corruption scandal which was still under investigation when he died.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 30 – Former Athletics Kenya President Isaiah Kiplagat will be laid to rest on Friday at his home in Kapseret, Eldoret.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at St Francis Church, Karen in Nairobi.
Kiplagat, who had been suspended by the IAAF Ethics Commission, died at 72 last week on Wednesday, August 24 at his Karen home after a long battle with colon cancer.
Athletics Kenya (AK), a body he led for more than 20 years, announced the date of the burial on Tuesday.
“This is to inform the members of the public and athletics fraternity at large that Athletics Kenya offices will remain closed from August 31, 2016 in honor of Mr Isaiah Kiplagat who passed away on Wednesday, 24th August 2016,” AK stated.
“The funeral service will be held on Wednesday, 31st August 2016 at St. Francis Church, Karen. The burial ceremony will be held on Friday, 2nd September 2016 at his home in Kapseret, Eldoret. The offices will re-open for business on Monday, 5th September 2016 at 8am.”
Isaiah Kiplagat died on Wednesday last week, August 24 at his Karen home after a long battle with colon cancer. PHOTO FILE.
Kiplagat was a tough talking figure who dominated the most successful sport in Kenya, transforming athletics to a professional paying career after taking charge in 1992 when the sport was struggling.
He was a long-time IAAF Council member during the presidency of Lamine Diack of Senegal which ended last year.
During his tenure, Kenya achieved the most successful results in the youth, junior and senior international events with the most recent seeing Kenya top the world for the first time ever at the 2015 IAAF Beijing World Championships with seven gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
As AK’s leader, his notable milestones include the successful hosting of the 2007 world cross country championships in Mombasa, the winning of the bid to stage the 2017 world under-17 championships in Nairobi and the 2010 CAA Africa athletics championships in the Kenyan capital.
Kiplagat and two other Athletics Kenya officials, David Okeyo and Joseph Kinyua were suspended from any athletics related event last November during an ongoing investigation of alleged embezzlement and extortion of more than Sh70.9m ($700,000) of sponsorship money from Nike for personal gain, and asking athletes to pay to cover up positive doping tests.
