“Kenya wins HIGH JUMP GOLD medal at Africa Championship in Durban South Africa.” It does not sound right. For a country renown for middle and long distance running, it sounds a bit misplaced.
But remember this name; Matthew Sawe. He is the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in high jump after clearing 2.21m in South Africa. He is on his way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for 2016 Olympics. He becomes the first Kenyan to take part in high jump.
Sawe’s exploits comes hot on the heels of the storied javelin thrower Julius Yego, the reigning world champion.
It will be safe to say that Yego’s meteoric rise in a sport dominated by Europeans may have inspired other Kenyans to dare to dream. And that is where Matthew Sawe’s story begins.
The 27-year-old Sawe, who started jumping while still a student at Itigo Mixed Secondary School in Kosirai, Nandi County, is slowly joining the high jumping crème de la crème in the world.
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In 2012, Sawe represented Kenya at the African Athletics Championship in Porto Novo, Benin, where he won bronze medal.
The podium finished caught the eye of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and he was selected to join their High Performance Training Centre in Dakar, Senegal. He is handled by Frenchman, Moussa Fall, an IAAF coach. Today, Sawe lives in Dakar and Paris.
He also holds Kenya national record of 2.25m he set in 2015 during the world championship trials in 2015 at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani but missed championship required standard entry by three centimetres.
This season, Sawe participated in a series of competitions in France and Germany as part of his Olympic preparations before representing his country at the Senior Africa Championship two weeks ago in Durban, South Africa.
“I’m extremely excited to hold Africa title and a huge honour to represent my country at the Olympics Games in Rio. It has been a long journey combined with a lot of hard work. It’s unbelievable,” said Sawe, who just like Yego watched the established jumpers like Qatari’s Mutaz Barshim and Bogdan Bondarenko of Ukraine on YouTube to perfect his jumping skills.
He added: “Last year, I missed the world championship qualification mark by three centimetres. I never lost hope. I’m always a positive person.”
Team Kenya Olympics Games athletics head coach Julius Kirwa confirmed they received a letter from world track and field governing body IAAF giving instructions that Sawe be included in the team.
“Sawe was given ‘B’ standard qualification and also we were informed by IAAF to name him to the squad,” said Kirwa.
