1965 was an exciting time. Several African nations had come into their own; and with independence came the search for recognition. Modelled on the modern-day Olympics the All Africa Games were designed to accelerate the ideals of Pan Africanism as well as showcase Africa’s finest sportsmen and women. But while the first games were originally slated for 1929, they didn’t take place for almost forty years. After several attempts the inaugural games were finally held in July 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo with over 2500 athletes from 29 African nations participating.
The men’s team had proven to be a competitive one in the previous year’s Olympics and African state representatives were looking to beat our track champions. Of note is while the games had a plethora of events, women were only invited to participate in six track and field events – 100 metres, 80 metre hurdles, high jump, long jump, javelin throw and 4 x 100m. It’s uncertain how
many women were in the Kenya team but what we do know is that la femme Kenya brought home our first independence women’s medal. All-round sportswoman Diana Monks had proven that she was a worthy contender for the games’ track and field events.
Diana not only qualified for one, but three of the six women’s events: the 80m hurdles, the long jump and high jump, where she stood strong in each of the heats. A slight stumble in the high jump semi-finals almost took her out of the event, but in the end she secured herself a slot in the finals of all three. The Nigerian and Ghanaian teams had flown in their best ladies but Diana was determined to do her best and do us proud.
Monks’ moment of glory was when she ran the final 80m hurdles finishing second at a record time of 11:08, one tenth of a second after Ghanaian track star Rose Hart. When asked about her win, Diana stated that she knew that her toughest competitor was Rose and her competitor’s speed pushed her to step up.
We celebrate sportswoman Diana Monks for shining on the track, proudly wearing her Kenyan sports spirit and being Kenya’s first female track athlete to step on the podium at an international athletics meet.