Has star athlete Kipsiro burnt out?
ALL seems not to be well for Uganda’s top athlete Moses Kipsiro. Seven months after his historic Commonwealth Games performance the runner is yet to impress again.
James Bakama: I SAY SO
ALL seems not to be well for Uganda’s top athlete Moses Kipsiro. Seven months after his historic Commonwealth Games performance the runner is yet to impress again.
The double gold medal winner is yet to get anywhere close to his New Delhi performance.
Kipsiro first failed to impress in November in the 10km event at the MTN marathon a month after his Commonwealth sparkle.
Kipsiro thereafter kept a low profile. While some said he was busy training for the new season in the Mountain Elgon ranges, others reported that he was deeply engrossed in his numerous businesses.
The latter was understandable given the almost sh50m he had won in rewards for the gold medals. President Yoweri Museveni, impressed by Kipsiro’s feat, thanked him with a sh20m reward.
When Kipsiro eventually bounced back to competition in March, we were all expectant. But to everyone’s surprise, the Commonwealth star finished a distant 11th at the World Cross-country.
Much as Kipsiro had at the same race won bronze the previous year, I was still one of those who didn’t take his 2011 slump seriously. After all, this was cross-country, and not Kipsiro’s track speciality - the 5000 or 10000 meters.
That’s exactly why I was very expectant when I learnt Kipsiro was on the starting list of the 3000m at the Doha Samsung Golden League early this month. But to my surprise, Kispsiro finished a miserable seventh.
You would have expected him to put up a better show a week later at the Roma Golden League, but he instead further deteriorated to ninth position in the 5000m.
This is not an impressive trend. You would expect an athlete of Kipsiro’s stature to be at the peak of his powers two months to the World Championships. That the next Olympics are also just at the corner, is more reason for Kipsiro to be on form.
So what exactly could have gone wrong with Kipsiro? Could it be a case of burning out, or is the runner not getting his training right.
You can’t rule out the latter given that the runner has this season not been with Johnson Kasaja - the coach who not only spotted him, but also trained him for the Commonwealth Games.
The other possibility could be that the runner is, since New Delhi, stuck in a comfort zone.
The rewards that come with success at times wipe away the hunger to excel. Very many sportsmen have faded out shortly after hitting the summit.
My prayer is that none of these theories is true.
ALL seems not to be well for Uganda’s top athlete Moses Kipsiro. Seven months after his historic Commonwealth Games performance the runner is yet to impress again.
The double gold medal winner is yet to get anywhere close to his New Delhi performance.
Kipsiro first failed to impress in November in the 10km event at the MTN marathon a month after his Commonwealth sparkle.
Kipsiro thereafter kept a low profile. While some said he was busy training for the new season in the Mountain Elgon ranges, others reported that he was deeply engrossed in his numerous businesses.
The latter was understandable given the almost sh50m he had won in rewards for the gold medals. President Yoweri Museveni, impressed by Kipsiro’s feat, thanked him with a sh20m reward.
When Kipsiro eventually bounced back to competition in March, we were all expectant. But to everyone’s surprise, the Commonwealth star finished a distant 11th at the World Cross-country.
Much as Kipsiro had at the same race won bronze the previous year, I was still one of those who didn’t take his 2011 slump seriously. After all, this was cross-country, and not Kipsiro’s track speciality - the 5000 or 10000 meters.
That’s exactly why I was very expectant when I learnt Kipsiro was on the starting list of the 3000m at the Doha Samsung Golden League early this month. But to my surprise, Kispsiro finished a miserable seventh.
You would have expected him to put up a better show a week later at the Roma Golden League, but he instead further deteriorated to ninth position in the 5000m.
This is not an impressive trend. You would expect an athlete of Kipsiro’s stature to be at the peak of his powers two months to the World Championships. That the next Olympics are also just at the corner, is more reason for Kipsiro to be on form.
So what exactly could have gone wrong with Kipsiro? Could it be a case of burning out, or is the runner not getting his training right.
You can’t rule out the latter given that the runner has this season not been with Johnson Kasaja - the coach who not only spotted him, but also trained him for the Commonwealth Games.
The other possibility could be that the runner is, since New Delhi, stuck in a comfort zone.
The rewards that come with success at times wipe away the hunger to excel. Very many sportsmen have faded out shortly after hitting the summit.
My prayer is that none of these theories is true.