Beautiful memories flooded Julius Yego's mind as he returned to Glasgow, the place where he won Kenya's first-ever Commonwealth Games javelin title.
The 37-year-old is one of only four surviving members of Team Kenya who competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and he is back in Glasgow for this year’s “Club” Games.
The others are sprinter Millicent Ndoro, aged 39, para powerlifter Joyce Njuguna, aged 50, and lawn bowler Eunice Mbugua, aged 39.
“Glasgow is the first place I won my first championship gold medal outside Africa. I am excited to return after 12 years," said Yego.
Kenya's Julius Yego takes part in the men's javelin throw during the Absa Kip Keino Classic at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on April 20, 2024.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Another victory would be a huge bonus, but I know it won't be easy, as there are many young, talented and energetic throwers now competing,” said Yego, who failed to advance to the finals in Gold Coast in 2018, but won bronze at the Birmingham “Club” Games in 2022.
Fresh from claiming his record seventh Africa title in Ghana, Yego won his 13th national title on June 20. His maiden victory came in 2009.
The 2015 World Javelin Throw Champion is the second African to win a gold medal in the javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games, after South Africa’s Marius Corbett at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For Yego, it has been a journey of resilience, focus, determination and, of course, the desire and passion to continue, knowing that he is inspiring a generation to take up the sport.
“I am a living example of what someone can do to break through regardless of the circumstances. Your attitude shapes your destiny,” said Yego, who sealed a record sixth Africa javelin title on May 17 in Accra, Ghana.
This made the police inspector the second most successful athlete at the continental championship, behind only Algerian hammer thrower Hakim Toumi, who has won seven times. Yego tied with Algerian decathlete Larbi Bourrada.
Yego equalled the record of retired race walk queen Grace Wanjiru as the most successful Kenyan athlete at the championships with six wins.
“It’s such a great honour and a historic moment for me, as this was my seventh and final Africa event. I didn’t want to go to Accra, but my coach inspired me to make one last attempt,” said Yego, adding that he had achieved all his javelin goals since winning bronze in Nairobi in 2010.
"I was a young man full of dreams and ambitious, learning the ropes in Nairobi at the time. Taking my last throw at the African event was quite emotional for me. This will also be my last throw at the Commonwealth Games.”
Julius Yego competes in javelin during Absa Kipkeino Classics at Nyayo National Stadium on April 20, 2024.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Yego made history as the first Kenyan to win the javelin event at the African Championships, claiming victory in Porto Novo, Benin in 2012 with a throw of 76.68 metres, and confirming his prowess in Marrakech, Morocco in 2014 with a throw of 84.72 metres. He won it four times in a row.
Yego noted that he had almost given up javelin throwing last year due to a recurring groin injury, but he continued trying for a better throw.
However, the 2024 Paris Olympics javelin champion Arshad Nadeem’s doctor, Ali Bajwa, and online javelin coach, Tim Taylor, rescued his fortunes.
“I have won all the major championships, including the Olympic Games, the World Athletics Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the African Games and the Africa Championships,” said the two-time African Games champion.
Yego will be competing against Nadeem, the defending Commonwealth champion from Pakistan, as well as Neeraj Chopra, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics champion, 2023 world champion, and 2018 Commonwealth gold medallist.
The fast-rising Kip Keino Classic champion Rumesh Tharanga of Sri Lanka, Anderson Peters of Grenada, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, Cameron McEntyre of Australia and Tori Moorby of New Zealand are among the star-studded cast in Glasgow.
Tharanga is the 2024 Asian champion and has just won the Rabat and Rome Diamond League events. Peters, Yego’s protégé, is the 2019 and 2022 world champion and claimed silver at the 2022 Games and bronze at the 2018 Games.
Walcott, who lost to Yego in Glasgow in 2014 to take home the silver medal, is the 2012 London Olympics champion and the 2025 world champion.
"As you can see, the best are back in Glasgow, and the rivalry will be intense and memorable," said Yego, the 2015 Beijing world javelin champion and 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist.
Yego holds the national and African record of 92.72 metres, set at the 2015 Beijing World Athletics Championships, where he hopes to compete in his final World Athletics Championships next year.
"That is where history was made, so it will be nostalgic to compete at the Bird's Nest in Beijing again," said Yego, who will be making his eighth World Championships appearance.
The Beijing National Stadium, which opened in 2008, is nicknamed the "Bird's Nest" due to the criss-cross pattern of its outer steel frame, which resembles twigs woven together to form a bird's nest.
If he is successful, Yego will become the second Kenyan, after the legendary Ezekiel Kemboi, to make eight world championship appearances.
