NAIROBI, Aug. 8 (GNA/Xinhua) – August
is feared by Kenyans as a dark month starting from 1978 when the nation’s first
president Jomo Kenyatta passed away on Aug. 22.
Since then, scores of famous Kenyans
have lost their lives in the month. The single-most biggest atrocity in the
country’s history took place 20 years ago when over 250 perished in the bombing
of the US Embassy in Nairobi on Aug. 7, 1998.
On Wednesday morning, Kenya was once
again reeling in shock following the loss of Beijing 2015 World Championships
men’s 400m hurdles gold winner, Nicholas Kiplagat Bett, who died in a road
accident at Lessos, along the Eldoret-Kapsabet road in the distance running heartland
of Nandi County.
Nandi County Police Commander Patrick
Wambani confirmed Bett, who was driving alone, perished on the spot. He lost
control of his SUV vehicle after hitting speed bumps. The SUV rolled and ended
in a ditch at around 6:30am local time.
It sparked an outpouring of grief
from the local and international athletics fraternity, with President Uhuru
Kenyatta and his Deputy, William Ruto leading Kenyans in paying homage to the
fallen sprinter.
The 28-year-old made history in China
when he became the first Kenyan to win a sprint gold medal at the biannual IAAF
track and field showpiece when he ran a national record of 47.79 for victory
running from Lane 9, the least desired starting position of the high-hurdles
lap-race.
His glory brought him fame and
fortune, transforming the lanky but soft-spoken likable runner from a budding
sprinter into a global superstar. His stunning victory was one of biggest
talking points of the successful Beijing 2015 worlds.
“I was more shocked to run a
time I never thought I would make in my life and from there, my life changed. I
have been able to do things for my family like building a house, buying a
tractor and investing,” the fallen athlete recounted.
At the home he shared with his immediate
and extended family, including twin and fellow sprinter, Aron Koech, a gold
winner (men 4X400m relay) at the recent Asaba 2018 CAA Africa Athletics
Championships in Nigeria. Bett set in motion a number of farming projects aimed
at securing their income.
Sadly, his short career at the top
which was ignited by winning two bronze medals at the Rabat 2014 Africa
Championships, was blighted by injury and personal pain which would have broken
the spirit of even the strongest person.
It all started at the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland when he made his first appearance for
Kenya, finishing fifth in the heats of the 400m hurdles to end his progression.
“When we got there, I had a
tendon injury, ran 51.21 in the heats and I did not make the semis. Afterwards,
we were diverted and told we would go straight to Morocco for the African
Championships,” Bett stated.
The decision by Athletics Kenya (AK)
denied him a chance to seek treatment but nevertheless, running through the
pain barrier, he was able to win 400m hurdles bronze in his then personal best
of 49.03 before adding a second medal as part of the 4x400m relay quartet that
finished third.
“That gave me the morale to
train in hurdles because if I could run 49.03 with injury, I believe I could
make it to run under 49 if I trained harder,” he held.
His performance in Rabat saw his
talent come to the notice of former national 400m champion and coach, Vincent
Mumo, who introduced him to his Finnish manager, Juuka Harkonen, opening the
doors to his career take-off.
Harkonen organised training for him
in December 2014 in South Africa and early 2015, he was flown to Finland for
further training that transformed his crude running style.
“I didn’t know how many strides
to take between hurdles and such things and the training helped me a lot. I
used to go down on the blocks on my left leg but the coaches switched me to my
right because it had more power and helped me get a better start,” Bett
said.
With that, he was ready to return
home and fight for a place in the Kenyan team for Beijing.
“We trained for two weeks in
Finland with Boniface Mucheru (Olympic silver medallist) and then we came back
for the Trials where I won in 48.29.
“I saw I was position three in
the world rankings at the time and that is when I realised there was hope for
the World Championships,” Bett, who
had the erudite memory of every single performance on the track underlined.
His preparations for the Rio 2016
Olympics were progressing well, even winning the Paris leg of the IAAF Diamond
League in May, but his training was rudely cut short when one of his twin sons
fell gravely ill soon after childbirth.
Despite missing the Trials, Bett was
handed a wildcard by AK but the trauma of his son’s illness meant his focus was
not switched on, with his Olympics hopes ending in disqualification during the
400m hurdles heats in Rio.
Bett failed to clear the final hurdle
after clipping it before gingerly jogging to the finish line in a race that had
to be retaken after a false start.
Eyeing a title defence at London
2017, Bett withdrew from the Team Kenya squad after injuring his Achilles heel
meaning he could not hurdle and on his return to competition at the Gold Coast
2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, he could only finish eighth.
His last outing for Kenya was at
Asaba where the effects of the Talus bone injury meant he could not power to
the medals and after the team was hosted to a reception by the AK and
government on Monday night for topping the medal charts with 11 gold, six
silver and two bronze, Bett returned home on Tuesday.
“He was determined to return to
his best with the World Championships in Doha next year his principle focus. He’s
had a rough time and he was optimistic everything was now behind him,” his
coach Mumo who last spoke to him in Nairobi said.
His father introduced Bett to the
sport, an athletics coach Boit who would place hurdles made of sticks for him
and the brother to compete when herding cows as youngsters.
A gifted sportsman, Bett was the
captain of the Cheptil High volleyball team where he played in the right or
main strong positions, leading them to the regional finals of the secondary
school competition.
He joined the Blue Triangle cement
volleyball team to pursue a career in the sport. But then he realized he was
going nowhere with the team sport, before deciding to try high jump and
decathlon.
“In 2010, I went to the Kenya
Junior Trials and won the high jump but they did not include any field athletes
in the team,” Bett recalled.
He further tried to crack the Kenyan
team in the 110m and 400m hurdles races but again, he was not picked. But after
finishing third in the latter in 52.8, he set his own target.
In 2011, Bett ran 50.39 to finish
third at the National Championships, a performance that caught the eye of the
Kenya Police Service. Then Bett missed the entire 2012 season as he undertook
his constabulary studies at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo.
With a police career to fall back on,
Bett resumed training in 2013 and two years later, made history in China.
GNA