Olympics: Why do East Africans rule distance races?

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It is easier to win an Olympic medal in long-distance running than getting into the team of Kenya and Ethiopia for events such as the 800m, 1500m, 3000 steeplechase, 5000m, 10000m and marathon.

Patrick Makau set a world record in the marathon in September last year with a time of 2:03.38 seconds but the Kenyan has failed to make his national squad for the 2012 London Olympics.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele won the 5K and 10K double at the Beijing Olympics. He also owns the world record for both events but Bekele will only run in the longer race at London, as there was no place for him in the Ethiopian 5,000m team. His compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba, who also achieved the long distance double at Beijing, has qualified only for the 10K race.

If Makau, Bekele and Dibaba can fail to make the cut, one can imagine the intensity of the Kenyan and Ethiopian Olympic trials. The two East African nations have become synonymous with excellence in long distance running in a way people identify USA with basketball at the Olympics.

Ethiopia and Kenya have reached such an exalted position in the marathon that it is impossible to think of a podium at annual events in Boston, Berlin, London and New York without a representative from the two countries. Events on much smaller scale in New Delhi and Mumbai are also the preserve of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners.

Kenya’s winning streak in the men’s 3000 steeplechase goes back to the 1984 Olympics. Kenyan men and women swept the gold in the 800m and 1500m at Beijing. Vivian Cheruiyot is the reigning world champion in the 5K and 10K races and she is a red-hot favourite to do the double at London. Barring a miracle, record holder David Rudisha is a shoo-in the 800.

What makes Ethiopia and Kenya so superior in long-distance running?

Multitude of reasons goes into making the countries what they are. It would be simplistic to pin point one theory to explain their success.

Geography and genetics

Most of the Kenyan and Ethiopian champions come from areas near the Rift Valley, which lies 2,000m above sea level. People living in high altitude naturally have more oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Athletes specialising in endurance races need more oxygen to keep their tiring muscles going. Even training at places above sea level can cause a spurt in the number of blood cells. That’s why top marathon runners from other parts of the world have started training in Kenya in recent years.

The combination of geography and training help East African athletes rule the roost in endurance races.

The body structure of Ethiopians and Kenyans is ideal for long distance racing. Long limbs help greater strides and light weight aids effortless running over energy-sapping distances. Besides, most of the top athletes of the two countries are born with slow-twitch muscles that can withstand the rigours of the 10K and the marathon.

Even though experts point out the genetic and geographical advantages East African athletes enjoy, they haven’t been able to attribute their track success only to these factors because not all countries lying above sea level produce long-distance champions.

Sociological reasons

Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie runs as if a bag is tucked inside his left arm. The double Olympic champion in the 10000m used to carry his school bag in that style in his younger days. Gebrselassie travelled at least 20 kilometres every day to reach his school. Commuting such a long distance daily would stand him in good stead in his athletic career.

Facilities are improving in Kenya and Africa but many children travel long distances even today to reach school or fetch water.

Long distance running is to Kenya and Ethiopia what football is to Brazil. Success on the track is a passport out of poverty and obscurity, even though the explanation is time worn. The excellence of Kenya and Ethiopia at the top level over the years inspires more and more youngsters to take up running.

Success generates self-belief. History is on the side of East Africa where long distance running is also ingrained in culture. As more and more champions come out of the Rift Valley, training methods have become scientific. The rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia is bringing the best of each other, as both countries are known world wide through their top athletes.

Bikila and Keino showed the way

Before the 1960 Olympics the athletic world wasn’t aware of the East African prowess. Abebe Bikila’s stunning barefoot marathon gold at Rome would be a seminal moment for African athletics. The gold was the first for the continent in athletics and it instilled the belief in African athletes that they were world-class. Bikila did an encore in the next edition, wearing shoes this time.

Why did African athletes take so long to come to the Olympic party? Before World War II, the travel expenses to reach the Olympics were prohibitive. African countries started taking part in the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup regularly only from the second half of the 20th century. Basically, African athletes didn’t have the resources to perform at the Games.

If it was Bikila for Ethiopia, Kip Keino showed the way for Kenya. He won the 1,500m gold at Mexico and the 3000 steeplechase title four years later to announce the arrival of Kenyan athletes. Ethiopia and Kenya should forever be indebted to Bikila and Keino for their path-breaking feats.

When the Finns were kings

It was Finland that dominated distance races in the early years of the 20th century. Hannes Kolehmainen laid the foundations for Finnish excellence by winning the gold medal in 5K, 10K and cross-country individual races at the 1912 Stockholm Games.

The pioneer nailed the marathon gold at Antwerp eight years later. Pavvo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, won nine gold medals in events ranging from the 1,500m to the marathon in three Olympics to consolidate the Scandinavian country’s reputation in distance racing.

Nurmi became so famous that five gold medals his compatriot Ville Ritola bagged at the 1920 and 1924 Games became footnotes in Olympic history and questions in quiz competitions. When Finland staged the Olympics at Helsinki in 1952, Kolehmainen and Nurmi, fittingly, lighted the cauldron.

The star of Czechoslovakia’s Emil Zatopek burned the brightest in 1952 as he won the gold in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon. Lasse Viren rekindled the athletic community’s interest in Finland by completing the 5K and 10K double at the Munich and Montreal Games.

But experts suspected that the winner of four gold medals was on doping because his performances elsewhere never matched his Olympic runs.