NAIROBI — Paralympian legend Henry Wanyoike has challenged two-time world record Eliud Kipchoge to a race.
Wanyoike says he would love to run against the two-time Olympic marathon champion while blindfolded.
“There was a time I met with my good friend Eliud Kipchoge who has been doing so well in the world of marathons. I was telling him about giving him a challenge that if he can be blindfolded, then we run against each other, we can see how we can go about it,” the three-time Paralympic champion says.
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Wanyoike adds that the race would make a huge statement on the importance of teamwork as well as enlighten the plight of persons living with disability.
“This will pass the message about teamwork, trust and how people need to live together so I believe he’s going to take up the challenge. Maybe one day we can have a run,” he says.
Wanyoike added: “It’s not only for competing sake but showing the people the importance of supporting the disabled in this country.”
Wanyoike and Kipchoge are two of Kenya’s elite athletes to earn critical acclaim for their achievements in athletics.
Wanyoike is a classical case of ‘turning lemons into lemonade’; despite losing his sight in 1995, he became one of the world’s most renowned athletes, walking the Paralympics like a colossus.
A world record at Sydney in 2000, followed by two more in Athens in 2004 — in the men’s 5000m and 10,000m — speaks volumes about the 52-year-old’s colourful career.
On the other hand, Kipchoge holds the distinction as the only man in history to run a marathon in under two hours — specifically in Vienna in 2019 where he clocked 1:59:40 in the INEOS 1:59 challenge.
This, to add to two Olympic marathon titles in 2016 and 2021 as well as breaking the world record on two occasions (2018 and 2022) — both at the Berlin Marathon.
Mutual respect
Reflecting on his peer’s achievements, Wanyoike believes there is much to be learned from Kipchoge’s medal-laden career.
“For the upcoming athletes, those who have been inspired to join sports or who are already in sports, the message I would love to say to them is that for us we have been training very hard, we have been focused, we have been up to the task,” he explains.
He adds: “It is all about discipline, and with discipline it’s everything. Some of these upcoming, they want to make it through shortcuts, with the doping. I want to encourage them that we need to run clean, we want to do the true training, so that with the discipline we can be able to maintain the glory we have maintained in this country.”
Wanyoike believes the greatest gift to bequeath to the present and future generation of athletes is to mentor them on the dos and don’ts of succeeding in the game.
The 2004 Boston Marathon champion has been using his life story to help the young ones push through to their dreams, regardless of obstacles along the way.
“I lost my sight when I was at the age of 19, at my prime age, and I went through challenges. At my lowest, I was able to rebrand myself, and I was able to make a world champion through the hard work and training hard.through this challenge, I was saying, when I win, and after my victory and my success, I thought it is good to go back to our roots,” Wanyoike says.
Spreading the gospel of persistence
So far, Wanyoike has visited 2000 schools across the country where he has had a tete-a-tete with students.
“I have been working very closely with Kenya’s teachers; at the moment I have been to more than 2,000 schools in the country. I really appreciate talking to these young people, these young children and learners in school, either high school, primary school, or even colleges and universities. feel good because after talking to them, they always tell me ‘Henry, after listening to you, this has been our turning point,” he explains.
The two-time Hong Kong Marathon champion is a believer that young people can take Kenya to the next level, if only they have the right mentorship.
“Outside Kenya, I have been to more than 200 schools outside Kenya. Because I believe, not only that I have that big passion for the young ones, because I believe they are the future of our nation. This country doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to them,” he says.
Furthermore, Wanyoike’s call to action is for sports to leverage on its power to resolve the ills affecting the society.
Close to his heart, in particular, is climate change, which he believes should be core concern for the sports industry.
“Through sports, we can be able to change this country and this world and make it better than the way we found it. Through sports, we can be able to talk about the climate change, we can be able to talk about drugs, we can be able to talk about peace,” he explains.
Wanyoike may have lost his sight but has gained a vision to make the world a better place than he left it.
He confesses that he is not about to stop running with it anytime soon, as long as he continues drawing breath on this earth.
“Since I am a sportsman, I can be a role model when talking to these young ones, to show them it has been possible to me, that it can be possible to them,” he concludes.