NAIROBI, Kenya, June 9 – Stakeholders in Kenyan athletics have bemoaned the lack of modern steeplechase equipment at the grassroots to nurture upcoming talents efficiently.
Longtime coach Barnaba Kitilit said many young talents struggle to perfect their art and craft in the water-and-barrier race because of insufficient equipment, such as hurdles and blocks to aid in their training.
“There is a lack of steeplechase equipment at the grassroots. In many cases, the young athletes interact with this equipment at the regional championships. We have seen that during the AK Track and Field Weekend meeting where in certain venues, we were told not to bring any steeplechase athletes due to lack of facilities, ” Kitilit, who manages Torongo athletics camp in Baringo, said.
He further spoke of the need for all stakeholders, including retired athletes, to come together and ensure access to such equipment for young athletes.
“The case of Moses Tanui (1991 World 10,000m champion) is a good example. After he retired, he went about in schools around his area, building these equipment. For some time, indeed, athletes from the Marakwet area were really good in steeplechase. We couldn’t compete with them, ” Kitilit said.
Kenya has long been renowned as a powerhouse in the men’s steeplechase, having dominated the World Championships and Olympics.
However, the emergence of Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali has been a thorn in Kenyans’ flesh.
Bakkali produced one of the shocks of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when he outsprinted the Kenyan contingent of Benjamin Kigen and Abraham Kibiwott to make history as the first athlete to break Kenya’s dominance in the race.
The Moroccan confirmed himself as the new king of steeplechase when he beat the 2019 World Champion Conseslus Kipruto at last year’s World Championships in Oregon.
Bakkali has continued his dominance of the race, his latest win coming at last week’s Rabat Diamond League.
Kenya’s recent woes, notwithstanding, Athletics Kenya’s technical director Ibrahim Hussein insists the situation is not as dire as it has been made out to seem.
“Kenya has won the second highest number of medals at the World Championships behind the United States. We have set very high standards for ourselves as a country and many expect us to be shining in those races that we have traditionally dominated, such as the steeplechase and 10,000m,” Hussein said.
The two were among speakers at a strategic performance plan meeting between Athletics Kenya (AK) executive committee and athletics coaches at Milele Hotel in Nairobi.
The meeting was convened to take stock of the coaching landscape in the country and to identify best practices to improve the capacity of coaches for the benefit of athletics standards in the country.
Hussein lauded the meeting, noting its necessity as the countdown to August’s World Championships in Budapest continues.
“Coaches are an integral part of the sports development cycle. We need to sit, analyse and look at where we have come from, where we are and where we should be. We need to sit down and help each other,” he concluded.
