Kitwara, Ngatuny dropped! Please Jesus, let this be a bad joke.

messed up!

If this article holds true, the most ironic part will be that Kitwara gets dropped from the team after winning Peachtree and Lineth Chepkurui gets ADDED to the team after winning the same race.

NativeSon, I completely agree with you. I have had some interaction with Mr. Okeyo, regarding an athlete from Kenyan who I was trying to help (on a strictly non-profit basis), and let's just say it did not go well at all.

It's become apparent to me that primary job of the AK officials are to help THEMSELVES, not the athletes.

Lord. As if it's not hard enough to make a Kenyan distance squad, they have morons running the show and randomly kicking members out. Did AK actually say to them beforehand "you can't run in Berlin if you run Peachtree" or did they just make this rule up after the fact? If the latter, what, do they get some weird satisfaction out of this kind of thing?

What are they talking about winning $2,000? Peachtree pays $15,000 and probably at least that much just to show up.

Silly. But, fine. Send your B-team and get beat by Galen. Then you will think twice about cutting your best guy because he won't obey the overlords of AK.

AK's imperious yet utterly incompetent behavior is what has given the edge to Ethiopia in recent years. Kenya remains the leader in talent and depth of talent, yet they've been surpassed (at least in WXC, WC and Olympic competitions) by their neighbors to the North. If there are some well meaning, competent individuals under the AK roof, I've yet to see them. Fuggin idiots. Athletes, coaches, managers should organize to break their corrupt stranglehold of Kenyan athletes.

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Idiotz wrote:

AK's imperious yet utterly incompetent behavior is what has given the edge to Ethiopia in recent years. Kenya remains the leader in talent and depth of talent, yet they've been surpassed (at least in WXC, WC and Olympic competitions) by their neighbors to the North. If there are some well meaning, competent individuals under the AK roof, I've yet to see them. Fuggin idiots. Athletes, coaches, managers should organize to break their corrupt stranglehold of Kenyan athletes.

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Idiotz wrote:

AK's imperious yet utterly incompetent behavior is what has given the edge to Ethiopia in recent years. Kenya remains the leader in talent and depth of talent, yet they've been surpassed (at least in WXC, WC and Olympic competitions) by their neighbors to the North. If there are some well meaning, competent individuals under the AK roof, I've yet to see them. Fuggin idiots. Athletes, coaches, managers should organize to break their corrupt stranglehold of Kenyan athletes.

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Well said: http://tr.im/sox4

This is the reason why there is no pride among the seniors while competing for Kenya. It is like you are doing it for these morons who do not know what you go through to get to the top. And that definitely affects performance. It is not that the likes of Bekele are unbeatable. It is the Ak politics ruining everything and the govt is too asleep or having its own share of fights to step in and save the sport.

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Moog The Real One wrote:



I bet it was Salazar who did this. He did so it would make it possible for Galen to medal.

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Brad ONeil - SR - Coe College wrote:

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Idiotz wrote:

AK's imperious yet utterly incompetent behavior is what has given the edge to Ethiopia in recent years. Kenya remains the leader in talent and depth of talent, yet they've been surpassed (at least in WXC, WC and Olympic competitions) by their neighbors to the North. If there are some well meaning, competent individuals under the AK roof, I've yet to see them. Fuggin idiots. Athletes, coaches, managers should organize to break their corrupt stranglehold of Kenyan athletes.

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Kinda makes you not blame all the suddenly-Qatari runners as much... tons of cash, no more idiots running your career... what's not to love?

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None of this surprises me. It is important to understand the dynamics of athletics in Kenya. There is more to this story - wheels within wheels.

When I read the various articles that are available online certain points throw themselves out at me.

One would be the interference of Noah Ngeny (former Olympic champion and newly appointed athletes representative to the AK exec). He has been quite vocal in the local media regarding the two agents and athletes involved. He would have been in favour of dropping these athletes and have them replaced by Micah Kogo and Moses Masai. It is important to know that Noah Ngeny is hired by Ricky Simms who (just by chance) is the agent to Micah Kogo and Moses Masai.

Can Nike be behind this? They would have no nike representative on the team if Kitwara, Ngutuny and Bernard Kipyego are named as the Kenyan representatives in the 10,000m. This is of importance to the shoe companies.

Also, each year Athletics Kenya targets the agents and the sole purpose is the extract finances. This will one of two ways. Demadonna and Wagner will pay up to keep the athletes on the team, or Ricky Simms will pay for having his two athletes called up.

Sad to say, but this is not the first or last time that AK has made these unexplainable decisions to take their best to the big show.

What's their rationale?

Sammy, please stay in America. Immigrate. You can run for us.

This is both horrifying and fascinating. Much like the idiotic AAU in the days before the Cascade Runoff, Athletics Kenya rules with an iron fist and greedily lines their pockets. My initial thought was that perhaps a powerful shoe company (Nike) could step in and use the almighty dollar to regulate AK, empower the athletes, etc. This would, of course reek of neo-imperialism, but it might get results. However, is it possible that Nike is already involved and making matters worse for Kitwara and subverting the spirit of competition itself?

Maybe I'm just naive, but I would think that a company that emerged with such hatred for the AAU embedded in its very fiber would balk at the situation in Kenya and try to use their considerable sway to chastise the greedy Kenyan bureaucrats. Maybe Nike is unwittingly aiding Athletics Kenya because the company has a lot of money and is more likely to give it to AK if there are more athletes on the team wearing Nike shoes. I'm not sure I believe that the decision to ban Kitwara resulted from a directive from Nike, but I'm willing to entertain the idea that Nike has helped exacerbate this and similar situations.

So what's the solution? I have a visceral reaction to most bureaucracies and even more so when it involves greedy morons meddling in the decisions of athletes and coaches. Is there anything Nike could do to make the situation in Kenya better? Could Kenyan athletes take matters into their own hands and override AK or dissolve the body entirely to create a fairer system?

That is a shame. It is not much, but maybe the best thing these guys could do is post a great time in August to show that they could have given KB and SS a good fight.

Ngatuny has a great (near) future as a marathoner. This sucks for him but probably doesn't matter a whole lot in the long run.

The possible Nike angle is interesting. There was something potentially related to that in the article linked at the top.

I really hate to say this because I am not a fan of Jimmy Carter's decision the 1980 games but the athletes need to be willing to boycott. That means the entire team, at least on the men's side, announce their willingness to not participate in these world championships if Kitwara is not REnamed to the team. Boycotts and strikes work as long as there aren't any scabs.