That Thing That Brings Us Together
It’s that time again! That time when the worlds attention comes together for a few weeks and the competition between nations ceases to be of the violent kind.
Tonight at 2.00am the opening ceremony of the Olympics kicks off the XXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic opening ceremony invariably takes place at an inconvenient time for most Kenyans. Many of us will remember that back in the day it was the only time there would be a TV show on beyond the strict bounds of 5pm – midnight programming that was VOK. It was the only time parents would allow eager kids to stay up and indulge in middle of the night TV as our collective excitement would unfold at the splendor of the opening ceremony and the Kenyan flag raised high as the athletes did their walk of nations. Sometimes the practice was to sit in front of the TV with an atlas to try and figure out where countries with exotic names such as Western Samoa or Kiribati were. The Olympics bring families together and builds memories. Where were you when Ezekiel Kemboi first did his crazy dance at the finish line or when Samuel Wanjiru closed the Beijing Olympics with our national anthem? The Olympics takes us around the world and back again – Barcelona, Atlanta, Seoul, Sydney, Beijing and now Rio, and yet we always feel at home regardless of where they are held.
We watch our athletes in homes and in bars and shout out with arms raised and personal satisfaction when the gold becomes ours. We focus on our races, those that we believe belong to Kenya – the 3000m steeplechase, the 5000m and 10000m races. We rail when others deny our flag its victory in those, especially if taken by a Kenyan gone rogue and running under the flag of another country.
The Olympics are intensely personal – they are ours.
There is something about the Olympics that brings out the best in humanity. It is fierce competition, with athletes of all disciplines bringing their best in the quest to raise their country’s flag and hold gold on the podium. Whether it’s a nine second 100 sprint, a desperate fling over the high jump, a carefully calculated archery release, a perfectly executed dive off a ten meter high board or a punishing two hour marathon. Each athlete is in Rio on account of years of discipline, tears and unrelenting mazoezi. All of that in the pursuit of a moment which goes by in the flash of an eye.
The athletes of the Olympics show us the best part of the human spirit, pushing themselves to break new records which manifest in the unadulterated joy or tears of frustration that we witness at the finish line.
It is Kenya’s fourteenth appearance at the Olympics with a team of over fifty athletes. Familiar faces and our favourite runners are part of the Rio contingent. Here at Paukwa we are especially celebrating the Kenyans who will be representing us for the very first time at an Olympiad. Those who through their hard work have reached a place few of us ever will. Amongst our first timers are boxer James Adede, backstroke swimmers Hamdan Bayusuf and Talisa Lanoe, Judoka Kiplangat Sang, 100m sprinter Mike Nyang’au. Bringing in our diaspora is US born Kenyan sprinter Carvin Nkanata. Our eyes are on 3000m Womens steeplechase runner Hyvin Jepkemoi, welterweight boxer Rayton Okwiri and reigning Africa womens champion long distance walker Grace Njue. Sevens rugby is making its first appearance at the Games and we have Doreen Remour Nziwa of the women’s rugby team and sevens all time try scorer Collins Injera, OGW bringing on Shujaa pride. Our youngest athlete is 19 year old 400m sprinter Alex Sampao and our flagbearer at the opening ceremony women’s archer Shehzana Anwar. All Kenyans to be proud of, representing all of us.
We are intensely proud of all our athletes. May you represent Kenya well, and may you bring home the gold!
Want more details on our national Olympic team? See: https://www.rio2016.com/en/kenya and have fun at the thirty first Olympiad!
2004 Olympic Steeplechase Winners Image courtesy of Adam Pretty:Getty Images
