KAPSABET, Kenya, November 7 – The 2008 Olympic 800m silver medalist Janeth Jepkosgei has warned upcoming male athletes to be wary of older women who are out to derail their careers.
Jepkosgei says a number of athletes have faltered in their careers after falling into reckless relationships with such women.
“There are certain women who have come up…pretending to be athletes so they can get close to these young runners who seem to have a lot of potential. We see a lot of them during weekend meetings, carrying spikes for these young athletes but if you check closer, you’ll find this woman is at least five year’s older than the runner,” the 2007 World 800m champion.
Jepkosgei further bemoaned increasing cases of young female runners falling into relationships with unscrupulous men posing as coaches.
“It is very sad to see someone pretending to be a coach, going after a female athlete who is young enough to be his daughter. In most cases, this is a guy who is married but is lying to this young girl that he loves her,” she said.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games 800m champion advised young athletes to maintain strong bonds with their families, noting that a number of them have broken ranks with their parents after tasting fame.
“Do not disrespect your parents after becoming famous. We athletes are a problem sometimes; when we become moneyed, we no longer want to listen to our parents or even take advice from elders,” Jepkosgei said.
She was speaking in Kapsabet on Thursday during Day Three of engagement forums with athletes across the country on their experiences with gender-based violence (GBV) and proposed solutions to eradicate the vice.
The forums have been organised by Athletics Kenya (AK), Equity Bank, the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) – supported by the state departments of Gender as well as Sports and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).
Speaking at the same time, Richard Mutai, an athletics coach in the region, called for close collaboration with faith-based organisations to provide athletes with spiritual nourishment.
“We have very good pastors from around here who can help our athletes with useful advice on how to cope with the challenges in their lives. There has been an erosion of family values and our pastors can help restore that. Let’s say we have scheduled meetings between pastors and athletes like every Tuesday and Thursday,” Mutai said.
The next stop for the engagement forums is Kericho where stakeholders are expected to congregate at Sunshine Hotel on Friday.
