Men's 3,000 steeplechase winner Brimin Kiprop Kipruto of Kenya (L) and third classified compatriot Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong celebrate after the men's 3,000 steeplechase athletics final in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Photo/REUTERS
Kenya’s four steeplechasers in the Berlin World Championships in Athletics come from a village that has dotted the global charts for nearly two decades.
Komora, which is in the heart of the hilly Marakwet District, has lived up to its billing as a seedbed of elite steeplechasers as they reside within a 5 kilometre-radius of the village.
Olympic and World champions have established a strong empire in Kenya’s number one speciality, the 3,000 metres steeplechase.
World and Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto and former Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi, All Africa record holder Ruth Bosibori and Kenya’s first World Junior champion Gladys Kemboi will be in the hunt for medals in the German capital next week.
So keen has been their enthusiasm to shatter every record in sight that it has made the world wonder what makes them claim a bigger slice of the glory. Their victory has been so consistent that it demands a closer look at their training programmes.
Steeplechase coach Boniface Tiren, who has trained most of the runners in Kapcherop Club near Komora, says the terrain and the high altitude have been quite helpful.
“We have been recruiting steeplechasers right from the grassroots level during December holidays. And since steeplechase is a technical event, we need to strategise well to ensure our athletics scale the heights of fame. There has not been a (Kenyan) national team without our steeplechasers,” said Tiren.
