byLarry Eder
updates 20:14.22 PM 2 August 2014 for photo by Editor
Anyone wondering how much the Commonwealth Games really mean to the athletes should be pointed in the direction of Moses Kipsiro. Deflated and damaged with a dodgy knee after the 5000m, it would have been easy for the reigning champion to pack in his quest to defend his second title, straight after he had lost his first. Even when he chose not to do so, there were still many points further on in his journey between Sunday and Friday where he could have stopped; even on that final home straight when it looked like the best he could hope for was bronze.
Those however are not points of exit for a champion but merely blots of ink dropped on the pathway to victory. That is why with 100m to go, blocked on the inside, the Ugandan did not panic, he simply bided his time and waited for that extra inch of space to come to him, before eating it up like an alligator. Knowing he would not be able to forgive himself if he didn’t press on from there to at least try and regain his title, Kipsiro drove on, pushing himself to his furthest limit. As he passed Canada’s Cam Levins in the final 10 metres the dream became more real, the chance more realistic. His challenge changed once more; it was now just the final hurdle of Josphat Bett, that had to be cleared in order to make the possible certifiable and snatch the unlikeliest of victories. As he leaned across the line chest pumped out with the Ugandan crest furthest forward, the defending champion knew the victory was his and once again gold would remain in Singare, Uganda.
Men’s 10,000m finish, photo courtesy of Commonwealth Games Foundation FB page
Afterwards he said: “I feel really great, I’m very happy that I’ve defended my title, I was not expecting it, so I thank god very much, I feel so grateful and so joyful, I thank god so much! I have been having a lot of problems with my knee all year, so when I entered I said let me just see what I can do and then when got to the last 400m something was telling me ‘you can do it, you can do it!’ When it came to the bell I was feeling in myself that I still had the energy to do it.”
Like many things in sport, one surprise success is quickly followed by 2nd, as the mental barrier that the athletes on the cusp of the podium have, is removed by the breakthrough of another; allowing them to strive on a greater sense of belief, that they too can achieve their dreams and beat the favourite.
While Winnie Nanyondo’s Ugandan bronze in the women’s 800m, just minutes after Kipsiro’s win can’t be counted as entirely unexpected, given a personal best of 1:58, there is no doubt, that many of the nerves she held beforehand were removed by the performance of her compatriot.
If that sort of inspiration can be transferred on to a national scale then we could potentially see a 3rd African distance force emerge, maybe not immediately, but potentially in the next decade. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will Uganda’s distance pedigree; many barriers far bigger than the ones Kipsiro cleared on Friday night will have to be cleared.
First there will be the issue of commitment; finding people who have the willingness to leave their job in an already poverty stricken environment for a marginal shot at becoming a world beater and breaking away from a career of labour will be tough.
Then there’s the problem of training facilities; while the neighbouring Kenya has training camps across the country, most famously in Iten, where the runners can live and train all year round, Uganda has none. Progress has been made and the process of building their very own High Altitude camp in the western town of Kaptura, which lies at 5,900ft has begun. Yet until the built is complete the nation’s biggest stars such as Kipsiro, Olympic and world champion Stephen Kipriotich and Tomas Ayeko will be forced to train In Kenya in order to remain at the top of their games. Which in turn means that their role as inspirator in their home nation becomes rather diluted and second hand, particularly in the sense that the young runners don’t get to test themselves against the very best, day in day out, as they would do in Iten with Kipsang, Mutai and the rest.
Despite these downfalls, a 3rd consecutive Commonwealth 10,000m gold does suggest that the progress and the potential is there, whether it will materialise into anything greater before Kipsiro retires remains to be seen. Either way, at least for last night, Uganda sat above their East African rivals in the world of long distance running.
