After the men’s 1,500m final, a Kenyan who shall remain nameless, posted on his Facebook page the following:
“We have the best Athletes in the world but worst championship Tactician. Kenyans are very good in paced races has we see in diamond leagues, few years we used to work as a team by sacrificing one athlete to up the pace but since we/athletes are managed by differents agents, this not possible anymore. Every agent want his athlete to win.”
While the Kenyans had a great deal of success in London, winning the most middle distance and distance medals and beating rival Ethiopia in the medal count, many in Kenya are pointing to the Kenyan team performance as a failure. For a country that prides itself on international distance running dominance, the Kenyans weren’t as dominant as they were claiming they would be prior to the Games. This raises the question of what exactly went wrong for the Kenyan team at the Olympics.
The head Kenyan Olympic coach, as told to Eurosport, spoke as if Kenya would win every performance, stating:
"We are ready for this Olympics and we are going for a record medal haul. I have the best team ever in Kenya's Olympics history. That is what we are looking at. At least 12 gold medals, including the elusive 10,000m men's title. As for the overall medal tally, you can multiply that by three."
As the Kenyan Facebook poster points out in their post, the lack of team racing seemed apparent. In past Olympics, and other major championships, the Kenyans often used team tactics to try to get their top runner the gold medal. This relentless, selfless, drive for the top spot is what brought about the Kenyan dominance of the past 20 years. However, if the Olympic performance is any indication, this dominance could be slipping.
The world of professional track and field is changing. The amount of money for appearance fees is growing, while prize money is shrinking. This means that your reputation gets you paid more, while actual performance in the same meet doesn’t pay as well. An athlete’s individual performance at major championships counts even more in terms of earning a living, thus making team tactics harder to accomplish as athletes focus on their own races rather than the team race.
While Americans rarely, if ever, use team tactics in distance races, this is a major shift in Kenyan racing. Some races, like the men’s steeplechase, saw these team tactics run to perfection, but as the world catches up to the top Kenyans in other distance events, the loss of team tactics leaves the Kenyans all the more vulnerable.
The next four years leading up to Rio will be fascinating to watch, as the Kenyans head back to the table to discuss how they can improve their Olympic results.
