Henry: did you know this guy? And what do you think will happen in Kenya?
Former international athlete killed in Kenya
(AFP)
2 January 2008
NAIROBI - Lucas Sang, a member of the Kenyan 4 x 400m relay quartet at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, became a victim of the countrywide riots when he was hacked to death at his hometown of Eldoret on Tuesday, his colleague said.
Sang, who retired to farming after quitting the track, was killed as he walked home in this western Kenyan town of Eldoret where over 35 people were burned alive inside a church on the same day.
‘He was walking home on foot to his house at Kimumu when he was attacked,’ his business partner and former World 10,000m champion Moses Tanui told AFP on Thursday.
The normally stable east African country has been swept by bloodshed and riots, largely on tribal lines, since fiercely disputed elections last Thursday after which opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki ofcheating his way back into office.
Having started as a 400m runner, Sang later switched to the 800m where he was more at home but due to the fierce competition, he opted to become a pacemaker for fellow Kenyan and foreign athletes before retiring to successful farming in Eldoret.
Sang was among 316 people known Wednesday to have been killed in escalating violence since the election, which has led to international diplomatic efforts to mediate and end the crisis.