By ERICK OCHIENG’
Men’s 800m record holder David Rudisha has challenged the Government and corporate firms to put up structures that can develop sports.
Rudisha said it pains him to see young athletes struggle in rural areas with no support to elevate from their impoverished status.
“Life in the rural area is not easy and the youths who are willing to train have nothing to motivate them. They have shown the passion to engage in sports, but they need to be supported,” said Rudisha.
The World Champion, however, thanked the sponsors for their immense support in uplifting athletics.
He said it would be prudent if they went and established structures in the rural and remote areas, which would give the youth leverage to develop faster and hone their skills early in life.
“The youth are the champions of tomorrow and we must start nurturing them today,” he said.
Rudisha, who is also the Africa 800m champion, said sprinters are the most affected. This is because they need both technical support and facilities and equipment to train well. But the Government and corporate have done little to establish these facilities.
Faced challenges
Rudisha is a living testimony to the challenges facing runners at the grassroot level.
He struggled in his early days because he wanted to make it in sprint events. But due to the difficulties in getting equipment and facilities he had to drop it.
“I had a passion in 200m and 400m. They are the categories I started honing my skills at. I was slowly being introducing into athletics, but I was forced to switch to 800m when I joined an elite training camp reason being it was where the sponsors had put their money.”
Rudisha was speaking during a farewell dinner for Team Kenya for London Olympics hosted by mobile phone provider Safaricom on Wednesday night at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Rudisha still believes he could have been a world beater in sprints, like his father Daniel (Rudisha) had there been corporate support to his bid.
Skipper’s advice
The Kenya team captain asked the corporate firms not to only inject money in events that have shown success like in 800m and long distances races but to also give sprinters a chance to excel.
Safaricom responded by confirming their reward scheme for any Kenyan athlete who will excel in London.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said they will pay Sh1 million for gold medallists, Sh600,000 for silver and Sh300,000 for bronze.
“Safaricom will soon announce the reward and support for the Kenya Paralympics team too,” said Collymore.
