For some ex-champs, the finish line is a tumble into misery

Samuel Chepkok

By Jonathan Komen

He was one of the most talented runners of all time and best remembered for his athletic exploits. But today, Samuel Kiprop Chepkok leads a squalid life.

His lifestyle best exemplifies the sad ‘riches to rags’ story that is so common among former athletes. 

The glittery trophies kept in their houses, dusty medals hanging from the walls and their generally unkempt dressing aptly captures their glorious past.

This also paints the grim picture of the life led by some world-record beating Kenyan athletes despite having won millions from lucrative competitions in the past.

Today, their superb sprint records only work out to their advantage whenever police raid their villages in search of unlicensed and illicit alcohol dens.

Although they trained and even made the national team with some of the most successful Kenyan athletes such as Paul Tergat and Moses Kiptanui, their destitute lifestyles today are incomparable.

Antony Kiprono and Charles Kwambai, who represented Kenya in the World Cross-country Championships and won lucrative races abroad, also feature on the list of elite athletes who have since fallen into disgrace.

Chepkok, who won a bronze medal in the World Cross-country Championships, is a poor man.

He has a small mud-walled house and a granary at his home in Tuiyoluk village in Uasin Gishu County.

“I won millions of money in athletics. I spent everything on a lavish lifestyle. I loved alcohol and women. In fact, I never had male friends, except when we drank together. I regret it all,” said Chepkok in an interview with The Standard at his home last week.

The former champion, who says he was nicknamed “Digger” for his unwavering love for women, says he did everything possible — even during competitions — to impress the ladies.

He started the habit at a young age. When he was in high school, the habit led to his expulsion from three schools — Kapteren, Kipsoen and Kitany.

“In Kipsoen, fresh from the World Juniors in Bulgaria, I used to ask my female classmates to wash my uniform. They were all willing to help provided I gave them soap. Then  one day the girls aired my trousers alongside their clothes. They were spotted by the master on duty and I was suspended. I made other mistakes after that and was eventually expelled,” says Chepkok, who boasts a time of 8:16.23, which he posted in Seville, Spain, in 1999.

 “At Kitany Boys’, I had earned good money from running and forged an affair with a teacher from a nearby school. I told her I was also a teacher. Little did I know that she would come to the school looking for me; I fled and jumped over the fence when I spotted her. She later saw me competing in the secondary schools’ meet at Kamariny Stadium,” he says.

After his secondary school education in 1993, Chepkok was recruited into the Kenya Defence Forces as a sportsman.

Here, he made more money from running.

“By 1998, I had earned almost Sh4 million. I would buy beer by the crate, stack them until they were taller than me, then begin to drink with friends,” he says, regret written all over his face.

Chepkok’s drinking extended to international competitions.

“I would drink even the day before a race. After sailing through the qualifying rounds in major championships, I would move out briefly and have a beer after resting, and I still performed well in the finals,” he says.

Chepkok says he remembers the 1996 IAAF World Cross-country Championships held in Cape Town, South Africa because of a woman he met earlier and decided to show her his prowess at the finish line.

“I felt re-energised when I remembered she was watching me from the stands. I was number four in the final stretch but the thought spurred me to sprint and finish third behind Assefa Mezegebu of Ethiopia and the winner David Chelule,” he says.

Chepkok, who was managed by Italian track and field agent Gabrielle Rosa alongside Paul Tergat and two-time Boston Marathon winner Moses Tanui he got a serious knee injury while training in Milan, Italy, in 1999.

Tragically, this ended Chepkok’s career despite going seeking treatment in Italy and Britain.

“The tendon fracture took a while to heal. That denied me the opportunity to make more money. This caused me stress and lost hope as I faced money problems. All my friends melted away one by one,” says the father of seven.

Chepkok blames himself for his woes. “I am to blame for my generosity and carelessness. And I have decided to get back into training.”

He says Moses Tanui, who was the first man to run the half marathon in under one hour, advised him to stop drinking.

Former World Junior 5,000m runner Antony Kiprono’s life script is not very different from Chepkok’s.

Kiprono, who finished fifth in the 5,000m in Bulgaria, is today a single man, having separated from his wife ten years ago.

For him, the problem was not alcohol but a dishonest wife.

When we visited him at home near Sing’ore Girls’ Secondary School in Keiyo North recently, he was just coming home with maize flour that he had gone to grind at a nearby posho mill.

Looking weather-beaten but speaking eloquently, Kiprono granted us an interview immediately we introduced ourselves.

“Help me out of this situation,” he begged. “I am a frustrated man even after making a name for this country. My wife swindled me of all my money and left me in poverty,” he said.

“I now do manual jobs here and there to earn Sh200 or Sh300, which helps me buy a tin of maize and some household items. It’s just terrible. I need help,” said Kiprono, who is known in the village as Puma, after the international company that used him in his heyday to promote the sportswear brand.

The former student of athletics-rich Marakwet High School added: “I burnt logs for charcoal to pay nursery school fees for my child. Life is hard.”

Kiprono competed against Chepkok during schools competitions and even travelled abroad for competitions together.

“I helped pay my wife’s fees at the teacher’s college she attended and she later ditched me. I have sold my tractor to support my siblings. Because of the stress, I took to drinking,” he said.

According to Kiprono, his tribulations today are similar to the disappointments he experienced at the IAAF World Cross-country Championships in France in 1993, when he finished 30th. Paul Tergat finished 10th while William Sigei, Dominic Kirui and Ismael Kirui swept the podium.

“But I was second in a 16-mile race in the US. It was among the many races that earned me good money. I also enrolled for a course in coaching at St Mary’s in England, which helped me train athletes after I stopped running,” said Kiprono, who was managed by German agent Walter Hamire.

“I have not been in contact with my former training partners. I have been looking for their cell phone numbers,” he said.

Similary, Charles Kwambai has not found life after running very rosy. He finished fifth in the World Cross-country Championships in South Africa (1996) and Turin in Italy (1997).

The shy-faced Kwambai said injury ruled him out of competitions after a brief stint at the international level. “I don’t believe I used my talent to its full potential. I am ready to stop drinking and train well if I find a sponsor,” says Kwambai, his eyes glittering with some hope.

He is best remembered for winning gold medals in the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m races at the Africa Junior Championships in West Africa.

“I am asking Athletics Kenya and the Government to help us,” said Kwambai, who trained under Italian agent Gabrielle Rosa.

For Vincent Malakwen, the 1995 All Africa Games 1,500m champion, it was a hamstring injury that took the wind out of his sails.

“I stopped running in 2000 after the injury. But the national trials for the Commonwealth Games in 1998 stand out as my most memorable moment,” said Malakwen, whose agent was Dutchman Jose Hermens.

Last week, former World Junior champion Raymond Yator admitted that alcoholism forced him out of athletics.

He said his passion for athletics is still very much alive but excessive drinking had taken a toll on him. “Alcohol has led me to abandon my career but my body is still raring to go. My appeal is to any sponsor who can provide me with training and facilities. I will not disappoint,” he said.

Yator, Malakwen and Kiprono studied at Marakwet High School, which former world record holders Moses Kiptanui and Qatari Said Seif Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono) also attended.

Some athletes who have been successful at the podium as well as off the track such as Thomas Pkemoi Longosiwa say they find their anchor in religion.

After winning their races, Longosiwa, who is popularly known as ‘Pastor’, and the others often kneel down for prayer.

“Even if you have billions or whatever wealth, you can get nowhere without Jesus Christ,” Longosiwa says.