Kiplagat wants action on Olympic probe report

NAIROBI -Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat wants the government to get serious and act on Olympic reports, which have been gathering dust on the shelves at the ministry of sports.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

NAIROBI -Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat wants the government to get serious and act on Olympic reports, which have been gathering dust on the shelves at the ministry of sports.Speaking in Nairobi on Thursday just a day before the preliminary report on Kenya’s dismal show in London is released, Kiplagat said a lot has been highlighted as the reason for poor performance in past competitions, but the government has remained reluctant to address the issues."I have been in this business for long. Since 1976 when I was the head of delegation in Montreal Olympics in Canada to date, we have made several proposals and changes but nothing has been implemented by the government.”"However, this time round, the President (Mwai Kibaki) has been keen to see the report and I hope it will dwell on issues and be objective. We do not want it to focus on individuals,” said Kiplagat.President Kibaki ordered an inquiry into the country’s disappointing performance at London 2012, where the team won 11 medals, including two golds.It was actually the third best performance since Kenya made their Olympic debut at Melbourne in 1956 but represented a sharp decline from Beijing 4 years ago when they finished third in the athletics medals table and 15 overall with 14 medals - six gold, four silver and four bronze.This time in London, Kenya’s only gold medallists were Ezekiel Kemboi, who won the 3,000 metres steeplechase, and David Rudisha, who produced arguably the performance of the whole Games by setting a world record (1:40.90) as he claimed the 800m title.Kenya also won 4 silver and 5 bronze medals all in track and field competition. Kiplagat said all will be done to see that Kenya reclaims its dominance on the track in the 2013 championships.