The road to Gold

By Daniel Edyegu

“Pray for me. I’m going for a competitive race. But I’m almost certain I will bring back home a medal. When I win, I’m going to meet the president to enlist me to earn a life pension from the Government.”

Those were the last words Uganda’s gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich told his wife, Patricia Cherop, as he left the family home for the London Olympic Games athletics last month.

Like any other man in his village would have done, Kiprotich left his wife and children, Eliot Musao, one and a half, and Esther Chebet, 4, at his home in Tegeres parish, Tegeres sub county in Kapchorwa district.

The news of Kiprotich’s victory in the Olympics spread through Kapchorwa district like a wild fire. His brothers, sisters, relatives and in-laws congregated at Kiprotich’s home ululating in a wild celebration fete.

“I’m very happy for my husband. Besides the money that he will earn from the victory, I believe his win is not only beneficial to our family but the nation,” Cherop, Kirotich’s wife added.

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Kiprotich’s family celebrate his golden victory

Kiprotich, the second last born in a family of seven, resides in a rickety single-bedroom mud and wattle house. The home, that sits on a about a quarter of an acre of land is surrounded by coffee trees and plantains.

His siblings are Jenifer Chemwok, Agnes Chemayet, Lydia Chesya, Patrick Cherotwo, David Cherop and Michael Ayeko.

Due to land scarcity in the area, the home almost has no compound.

At one end of his house is a wooden shack that houses three of his goats. Kiprotich also owns a motor cycle locally known as a bodaboda. He purchased it to rake in a modest income for his family’s upkeep.

Cherotwo, one of Kiprotich’s brothers, cast his athletics dreams away much earlier in life to pursue a teaching career. “I used to be a good long distance runner taking part in the 5000 and 10000-metre races. But due to lack of support, especially from the government, I dumped athletics and went for something that would put bread on the table,” Cherotwo said.

With Kiprotich’s win yesterday, his mother, Kokop Cheptum relived some of the emotional memories of him as a child. “At four years, Kiprotich nearly died of Kwashiorkor. The family could barely afford food. He grew pale and the whole body became swollen. We thought he would die. Being an impoverished family, we fed him on herbs and the available food until his condition improved. I thank God that my son has finally put a smile on my face,” Kokop said.

James Kiptui, Kiprotich’s father described his son’s victory as a divine response from God to the family’s ardent prayers. “Ever since he flew for Olympic games, we have been praying for him day and night. It’s difficult for us. As an impoverished family, we could not offer much to him in terms of material or financial assistance. But he went out all the way to do us proud. Praise to God,” Kiptui said.

Ayeko, 26, Kiptui’s last born, said with Kiprotich’s win, he would resume training with focus on the national spotlight.

“Kiprotich has put us on the world map. I stopped running due to lack of support. As an athlete, you need shoes, tracksuit and money for general upkeep that I lacked. It’s actually for this reason that all of us threw our weight behind Kiprotich because all of us couldn’t participate on the sport at the same time due