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Kenyan controversy Complacency cited for scrapping marathon team
NAIROBI (Reuters) -- A huge row has erupted in Kenya over a decision by national athletics chiefs to dump the three-strong marathon team for the Sydney Olympics because of alleged complacency. The team has been replaced by an entirely new one. Kenya Amateur Athletic Association (KAAA) general secretary David Okeyo said the team of twice Boston marathon winner Moses Tanui, reigning Boston champion Elijah Lagat and Japheth Kosgei, the Tokyo marathon winner, had been scrapped. The new team will be Rotterdam marathon winner Kennedy Cheruiyot, 1996 Atlanta Olympics marathon bronze medallist Eric Wainaina and Osoro Ondoro, fourth in the Boston marathon in April. Okeyo said the team had been changed because the trio selected earlier were training inconsistently and that complacency had set in. He said the move was recommended by a panel of coaches appointed to monitor training. But athletics insiders said the motive was political, given Tanui's repeated demands for greater transparency and accountability in the running of athletics in Kenya. Kipchoge Keino, chairman of National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), condemned the move. "As chairman of the Olympic body, I am not going to utilize public funds to take a weak team to Sydney," Keino told Reuters on Monday. Keino said he would personally present the case to Kenya Olympic Games Steering Committee at their next meeting on Tuesday. "You can't drop (Elijah) Lagat and (Moses) Tanui when they had proved themselves that they are capable of doing well," said Keino, a winner of two Olympic gold medals himself. Officially, Kenya's marathon team is selected from performances in the London and Boston marathons. Qualifiers for all other events have to finish in the top three at the national championships in Kenya, which concluded on Saturday. The Kenyan trials confirmed the vulnerability of established names who were floored by little-known runners. World 3,000 meters steeplechase champion Christopher Kosgei saw his dream for Olympic gold go up in smoke as he trailed at the very end in a race won by Reuben Kosgei (no relation). Olympic and twice world 10,000 meters silver medallist Paul Tergat took a gamble by switching to 5,000 meters but squeezed his way into the Olympic team, having finished third. The race was won by Julius Gitahi. World silver medallist Benjamin Limo was a poor fifth while world 3,000 meters record holder Daniel Komen could not cope with the searing pace and did not finish.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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