Marathon You Can Do It

While the rest of the world is concerned with the bad Air at Beijing, the Chinese authorities believe one of their biggest problem at Beijing Summer Olympics will be the bad behaviour of Chinese crowd.

According to a news Item I just read on Fox news australia, Chinese spectators are amongst the worst in the world, they spit, swear, shout and scream. They constantly hurl abuse, refuse to turn off their mobile phones when silence is needed, never sit still and are often negative.

I thought those are qualities of a good sports fan! But for Chinese authorities, the local crowds are a problem they have been trying to address for the past year.

The Chinese authority have come up with what I can describe as the first professional cheer leading squad in the world. They call it the Worker’s Civilised Cheerleading Squad, they have been trained on etiquette and manners of a sports fan.

According to Huang Keying, the Deputy Director of Spectator Services Division at the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games they have banned the following traditional habits of sports fans:

1) International spectator pastime, Streaking (So Obvious!)

2) Gambling

3) Drunkness

Spectators have been warned to keep banners supporting China at home and that disruptive behaviour could result in several days’ detention.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Beijing Olympics, Kenyan Runners, Olympics, Running, sprints

Time has wings! its feels like yesterday we were watching Athens 2004 Olympics and now Beijing Summer Olympics is just about to get underway.

Some athletes from Athens Games have not survived to make it to Beijing Summer Olympics. I will miss the following star athletes who made Athens Olympics memorable

1) Tears streamed down El Guerrouj’s cheeks when he finally managed to crown his glorious middle-distance career with Olympic gold in the 1500m.

2) It was the smile of Athens Olympics! 34 year old Kelly Holmes’ clinched double gold in the 800m and 1500m

3) Ian Thorpe, The Aussie pool shark. It’s hard to believe he is only 26 but retired!

THE PRANKSTERS

1) The Canadian prankster who disrupted the Diving final. He got his five minutes of fame plus five months in jail.

2) Brazilian De Lima was leading the marathon when this happened! He finished second and said: “If it were not for that lunatic, I am sure I would have won the gold.

All Great pictures courtesy of BBC News

Am looking forward to highs and lows of Beijing Summer Olympics. Are you ready?

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Beijing Olympics, Kenyan Runners, Olympics, Running, sprints

The final list of Kenya’s Beijing Olympic squad was finally presented to IAAF on monday and two names on the list were unexpected. 400m Sprinters, Elizabeth Muthuka and Vincent Mumo surprised me when they were able to achieve the Olympic qualifying mark.

Their success reminded me that there was a time when Kenya athletes were a force in short distances. I checked results of past Olympic games and discovered that in the past, Kenya ranked very well in the 4×400m relay. We won a silver at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and then a Gold in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Julius Sang also won a bronze in open 400m in the same Munich games.

Elizabeth Muthuka has a Maria Mutola look, She has a muscular build; chiseled shoulders and biceps that would make men her age envious. Until last month, Elizabeth Muthuka was just another struggling athlete but in the last one week, she has broken the Kenyan 400m record which stood for 24 year twice. She is now set for Beijing.

Athletics Kenya has talked about promoting participation in short distance but it has all been talk, the federation has never put money in promoting the sport. Aspiring sprinters like Elizabeth have to struggle by themselves.

Struggling on your own teaches you determination. I hope the determination propels Elizabeth and Vincent to victory in Beijing.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Beijing Olympics, Kenyan Runners, Olympics, Running, sprints