Kipchoge Keino’s lesser-known life: Service to humanity

“Sorry I am late. I had an appointment with my lawyer over a land problem I have had since some people tried to grab my land which I bought over 50 years ago from money I earned as a professional athlete.

The land is back in my hands, but it has eaten into my finances and time. They had invaded the land and started sub-dividing it before police and the judiciary intervened.

The Nandi County government has proposed to relocate the stadium in Kapsabet named after me to create a market which is wrong because we should think of our youth.

We came to this world empty handed and we will leave it empty-handed, so let all serve humanity and leave the world a better place.

We have the best country. We can be able to produce other things to be able to care for our own people, to be able to take care of our own people.

This country has a lot. Take for example, you are buying clothes from China and so forth, and yet we have material which can produce clothes in this country. 

We need our universities to produce young Kenyan graduates with knowledge on commercial textile and so forth. We need to be able to produce and make shoes like Bata. We need more Bata factories.

Our elders were producing mshale, mkuki and other things using their own tactics and soil. We can do the same thing today. The same soil can be able to produce many things for us to be able to utilize.

We have a lot in the country, and water from here through to Sudan which we should be utilising. We have water to produce enough food to be able to take care of our own people. We have the best country. We have the sun. We have the wind which can be utilised. We need to utilise those facilities to be able to utilise all the needs of our own people.

I am a large- scale tea farmer in Nandi and I breed dairy cattle near Kitale where my sons also practice value addition by making our own yoghurt in addition to selling milk. 

My other son, James Keino, is a lecturer at Texas University. He broke a record by developing a wheat variety which produced 81 bags under one acre. We can get the same technology in Kenya. 

My other son, Bob, is a commercial ship captain sailing in Europe and Australia. Martin once worked with Nike as a products designer. Kemboi helps in running the Kip Keino Primary School which has a wing for 76 orphans in Eldoret who have grown to become professionals in medicine, engineering, arts and education.

Ian was in Germany and won a US Green Card. Martin helps in running the tea farm in Nandi and dairy farm near Kitale where we also produce our own yoghurt and other products through value addition.

I have visited 187 countries in the world. I also assist in the family business, mostly in the transport division like today I have to attend to my lorry which has broken down in Kapsabet.

I must send money for repairs, and also go and supervise as a way of keeping myself active (laughter). 

And as you have heard from my phone conversation, I have just sent money to an old athletics friend athlete to settle his medical bill in Tenwek Hospital in Kericho. He was to be discharged from hospital and he had only Sh600.

I help people as part of my service to humanity because you came to this world empty handed and will leave it empty handed. 

I am lucky to have met many people. I spent two weeks in Mohamad Ali’s house in 1974. I also met Pele who hosted me in his house in Rio (de Janeiro) for Christmas I think in the early 1970s after taking part in an international race in the city. 

I went to the White House and stayed there for six days with my wife Philis under the invitation of President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy for our good work assisting orphans by giving them a shelter and education in 1988.

We were eight of us who won the 1987 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Awards. We have served humanity in various ways. We had a good time. Because of President Reagan, we continue to collect orphans or they are brought to us wrapped up in clothes at the Kazi Mingi Farm near Eldoret assisted by people of goodwill from across the globe. 

Queen Elizabeth hosted us at Birmingham before 2012 London Olympics and expressed her love for Kenya where she became the Queen in February 6 1952 having slept at the Tree Tops as a Princess and woken up the Queen following the death of her father.

She wished us well and told us that we came from a very beautiful country.

But it is on the track where I had most fun. At the 1968 Olympics I beat Jim Ryun, the then world record holder in the 1,500m by 20 metres and he was of the view that we played a trick on him with (Ben) Jipcho. 

We were prepared and planned well. We put our own training camp on high altitude in Thompson Falls (Nyahururu). We worked hard. Mexico was also at a high altitude. I had to win by 20 metres from Ryun thanks to Jipcho and the tactics our coach Charles Mukora instructed us to employ.

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I had to appreciate the training I had in Nyahururu and that was the most important thing because I also won a silver in the 5,000m.

I had first competed in the 10,000m against the doctor’s advice because I was found to have had gallbladder stones. I defied this order and went on to run, collapsing three laps towards the end and was later disqualified for line infringement.

I then prepared for the 1,500m race and I was forced to run part of the way to the stadium after we got stuck in traffic. I had only 20 minutes to register and warm up before the race. I won .

In the 1972 Olympics, I had been threatened with death if I competed, but I went on to win the 3,000m steeplechase and a silver in the 1500m.
Today I am not happy because are losing the steeplechase race.

We have the altitude and the right attitude but what we need is proper training and coaching for our athletes to be good again in this event in which we have more Olympics medals than any other country.

I am now busy doing my own things and still follow athletics keenly and contribute towards track and field development.

My lowest moment was also the highest at the Rio Olympics. There were management problems, but the games were the best for Kenya ever. 

We were number one in the world in Rio Olympics. The athletes trained at my camp in Eldoret.

Our athletes are good, but we have a problem with doping.

We must talk to our athletes also. We must tell them these chemicals can kill you anywhere, anytime.

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We blame those agents. When they come here, they trick our athletes that this is the way you can win. This is wrong. They (agents) should be charged. Think of tomorrow, of how your life will be. We need to encourage athletes to train properly and cleanly.

Adak is trying. AK is trying. But those people who are using chemicals should be stopped because they are not using humanity in the right way. And we are not taking care of our own athletes in the right way. They (agents) are killing our athletes. We don’t need them.

It is true I have seen a lot, but my other major accomplishment was to serve President Jomo Kenyatta as his designated guard for the colonial government as a young police officer before independence. 

From Lodwar to Maralal, from Maralal to Gatundu and he went to Lancaster House, and we got independence. Kenyatta was always my friend. I was never far from him and his family -- Mama Ngina, Margaret, Christine and even President Uhuru.

After independence we met frequently like when we returned from global events. He would always call the athletes to State House, and he would always call me by my first name.

He followed my athletics career because I and many other police athletes were running for Central Province through Kiganjo Police Training College. I have an attachment with Central Province, and I feel bad to see the region lagging in athletics. We must all as Kenyans serve our youth as part of our service to humanity. I have no regrets how I have lived my life.”