The rise, fall and rise of Henry Rono
Published on October 7, 2007, 12:00 am
By Athman Amran
Legendary Kenyan athlete Mr Henry Rono, whose rise to fame was as dramatic as his fall, has managed to beat all odds and to find his feet once again.
Now at 55, he has found his form and is training young athletes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the US to be not only masters of their physical bodies but also their mental, spiritual, emotional and social aspects.
He coaches Team Rono six days a week and his programme includes not only running but also nutrition and weight training.
The once star athlete also offers online coaching since joining the 2L Online Coaching Services. Rono has obtained US Track and Field Level 1 and Level II certifications to improve his scientific knowledge of sport.
He is putting final touches on his autobiography to mark the 30th anniversary of his four world records, which he achieved in 1978. This is a feat that has never been equaled.
But it has been a hard and tough road for Rono.
In 1978, Henry Rono, a Washington State sophomore, established World Records in the 5,000 (13:08.4), steeple (8:05.4), 10,000 (27:22.4) and 3,000 (7:32.1) — an achievement unparalleled in the history of distance running.
Speaking to The Sunday Standard, Rono recalls his glory days with nostalgia. Although he had been physically strong, Rono admits his life fell into ruins because he was mentally, spiritually, emotionally and socially weak at the time he reigned in athletics.
By early 1980s, Rono had it all. Money and fame defined his stature.
Between 1982 and 1983, his bank account had over $250,000 (Sh18 million).
In 1989 he got a court award of around Sh3 million ($40,000) when a New Jersey bank wrongfully accused him of being a serial bank robber.
Arrested for being black
While in New Jersey, Rono was arrested in 1986 and spent six days in prison for allegedly robbing banks. His misfortune was that he was black and his second name, Rono, was misspelled as Rond, which was the name of the real culprit. And though his picture did not resemble that of the suspect, police went ahead to arrest the former athlete.
"The six days I spent in prison taught me four things: I learned to be patient, not take things for granted and to listen to my second voice," he says.
He remembers his lawyer telling him that if he were not famous, he could have been locked up in the prison.
Rono had gone to the bank to open an account for some money he had won from the Chicago marathon. "A few hours earlier, I had promised my family that I would be sending money to Kenya as soon as I opened my account, " he says.
When the bank realised its mistake, it apologised and wanted to award him $50,000.
His lawyers sued for $10 million dollars but he ended up being awarded $75,000 after a two-year case. The lawyer took $35,000 and he ended up with $40,000. Then followed his rapid downfall.
"From there on my life changed. People I used to think were my friends disappeared. They were around me for the money I had in my pocket. When money disappeared my life became miserable and I struggled on," Rono says.
Achievements
During his peak days Rono broke four world records in 10,000m (27:22.5), 5,000m (13:08.4), 3,000m steeplechase (8:05.4) and the 3,000m (7:32.1). He shaved off 8 seconds, 4.5 seconds, 2.6 seconds and three seconds respectively in the races—in a span of 81 days in 1978.
He also won gold medals in the 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games in the same year. There were, however, no video recordings of any of his 1978 record-breaking races.
During the 1978 All Africa Games, Rono won gold medals in the 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase.
He continued to compete for the next four years and ran the world’s fastest 5,000m and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cross-country races in 1980.
Unfortunately, he never competed in the Olympics as Kenya boycotted both the 1976 and the 1980 Olympic games.
In 1981 be broke his 5,000m world record in Oslo after sobering up from an overnight drinking spree. His 3,000m steeplechase world record of 8:05.4 lasted for 11 years.
Rono says once he became a star, everyone wanted to manage both him and his bank account— from his college coaches "to greedy agents and directors, as well as some corrupt Kenyan athletic officials". He says this left both his spirit and bank account broken.
It also led to his "self-imposed but necessary" exile from Kenya. He has been away from Kenya for more than 21 years. He shies off from talking about his love life but only indicates that he has a family in Kenya.
None of his college mates took him seriously when he told them he was more interested in finishing his degree and becoming a high school teacher than a millionaire athlete.
The athlete, who was born to a peasant family in then Nandi District 55 years ago, says he had been attending the Washington State University when he began his athletics exploits.
But by 1984, enslaved by alcohol, he was no longer competing and by the 1990s he was penniless. In 1994, he was forced to spend some time in a homeless shelter in Washington.
"The rise in my running career was great and enjoyable. The mind and body were in harmony. However, if either part becomes sick, it is just a matter of time before the other collapses," Rono observes. He says the mind is affected by four components — mental, spiritual, emotional and social.
"If any of these are affected negatively they have a direct effect on the mind, which would negatively affect the physical," he argues philosophically.
Before breaking the world records in 1978, his running was easy because his mind and body were in harmony, he says.
"Unfortunately when I reached world class level, pressure from my coach, promoters, sponsors, the media, friends and countrymen affected me emotionally," the athlete reveals.
It was just a matter of time before the towering Rono could fall from the mountain.
However, he experienced the most painful moment when those he had depended on for emotional and moral support abandoned him.
"Once I hit the bottom, all friends, promoters, sponsors, the media and countrymen were gone. The emotional stress was overwhelming! To eliminate stress, I turned to alcohol," reveals the coach. He visited several US rehabilitation clinics.
In the mid-1990s, Rono was sober and ready to return to a stable life but some companies that had minted millions of dollars through his name refused to help him. One experience, which Rono finds hard to forget, is when in 1995 an international shoe company turned him down. He had pleaded to the management that he was even prepared to clean their floors.
However through sheer will and tenacity, he pulled himself from years of wandering and destitution to become a fulltime teacher and graduate student in special education.
He dabbled in several odd jobs, including car wash, while looking for funds to go back to school and re-invent his life.
He says when he was a young athlete, his body was strong "but my mind was weak".
"Now my mind and body continue to grow. Once again Henry Rono’s mind and body are working together in harmony," says Rono.
He blames his fall to his unpreparedness for the sudden success, fame and wealth.
"With proper education in sports psychology, I would have remained on top with 10 world records. I should have been the one to decide when the record breaking spree would stop," he confesses.
Education vital
Since kicking alcoholism, Rono says he has become happy and contended again. "Alcohol, pressure and all the stress have become things of the past," he says.
He adds: "I now see things with a clear mind and my focus has been redirected."
For young athletes he advises them to stay on course.
"It is hard. There are people who smell money on young athletes’ feet and without proper education, there is no way they can protect themselves," he says.
Rono coaches a team of elite athletes, also instructs runners online. He is also helping people to lose weight and be fit.
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He advises young athletes to get education first in order to protect themselves. "It is only then that money would stick in your wallet and the world would not laugh at you as it did with me."
Rono says he chose to become a teacher and a coach in a bid to help weak athletes.
He argues athletes in Kenya are prone to manipulation, exploitation and hatred . "That is why you see them leaving Kenya to seek better opportunities elsewhere," he says.
Rono has no kind words for some Kenyan athletics officials.
"They use athletes to the point where they break down. When the rest of the world knows that Kenyan athletes are treated like slaves, they take the advantage to lure them and treat them likewise," Rono alleges.
"Why do you think made national coach Mike Kosgei leave for Finland to coach? Why was he fired by the Kenyan officials when he returned to the country?" He poses.
"Why did Wilson Kipketer leave for Denmark? Why do you think I have been in the United States for more than 21 years?" he fires questions continuously.
He says although athletes are heroes, they are not respected in Kenya.
"We live miserably and we eventually die prematurely," he says.
He says athletes are taken advantage of because most of them do not have adequate education.
Rono says that athletes in Kenya have to fight on three fronts: to control their finances "in the middle of big sharks", fight social discrimination and to get in shape. In other countries, he says, they only have to fight to get in shape and win their rewards.