While every fan of sports and competition is looking forward to the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, Kenyan fans will watch the opening ceremonies knowing that one of their country’s most renowned and respected athletes is no longer there to enjoy the event.
The man is Lucas Sang. He gained notoriety running for the Kenyan national team in the 1988 Seoul Games and continued after that for a number of years as a professional. Eight months ago he was spending his time teaching Kenyan youth the sport that had provided him so much, not knowing that his heritage would lead to gruesome death.
Life was changing rapidly for Kenyans as the calendar turned to 2008. Days earlier—by all accounts—the ruling Kikuyu tribe rigged the election and kept their leader, Mwai Kibaki, in power. The ensuing clashes and riots between the ruling Kikuyu and a group of tribes led by the Kalenjin burned and destroyed neighborhoods.
In the midst of all this, a man that had always been a Kenyan decided instead to be Kalenjin. This led him to the streets with his fellow tribesman and ultimately his death at the hands of a Kikuyu mob wielding machetes.
No country expects to see their Olympic athletes hacked to death in the middle of a field. But it really makes one wonder, what’s up with Kenya?
The man is Lucas Sang. He gained notoriety running for the Kenyan national team in the 1988 Seoul Games and continued after that for a number of years as a professional. Eight months ago he was spending his time teaching Kenyan youth the sport that had provided him so much, not knowing that his heritage would lead to gruesome death.
Life was changing rapidly for Kenyans as the calendar turned to 2008. Days earlier—by all accounts—the ruling Kikuyu tribe rigged the election and kept their leader, Mwai Kibaki, in power. The ensuing clashes and riots between the ruling Kikuyu and a group of tribes led by the Kalenjin burned and destroyed neighborhoods.
In the midst of all this, a man that had always been a Kenyan decided instead to be Kalenjin. This led him to the streets with his fellow tribesman and ultimately his death at the hands of a Kikuyu mob wielding machetes.
No country expects to see their Olympic athletes hacked to death in the middle of a field. But it really makes one wonder, what’s up with Kenya?
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