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Remembering Rono’s record-breaking run from 1978 in Norway
Kenyan distance running legend Henry Rono.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What you need to know:
- All the same, Rono was probably one of the most amazing athletes who would walk into an athletics competition without adequate preparation and win
- Rono, whose favourite hotel while in Nairobi city was the Hilton, arrived in Oslo, Norway and less than 12 hours later, he had set the world record in 3,000 metres in thrilling race
- It was a great moment for me and my friend Elisha Kasuku who had just participated in a World Walking Championship in another Norwegian town of Bergen, about 463 kilometres from Norway
Despite breaking four world records in different events in a span of 81 days, Henry Rono, the long distance runner and one of best athletes Kenya has ever produced, still lost the 1978 Coca Cola sponsored “Sportsman of The Year’’ award to legendary golfer John Mucheru.
It was one of the closest competitions for the award now known as the Sports Personality of the Year Award (Soya). Being one of the panelists and a golf writer and player, yours truly voted for the late Mucheru, who had won all the national events in the country in addition to some international tournaments he won in Malaysia, and in Great Britain that year.
