By Debra Rono
Nandi county senator Samson Cherargei has come out to call for investigations into the Beijing marathon where Kenyan athletes were seen leading a Chinese athlete to winning the marathon.
Senator Cherargei urged the Ministry of Sports, Athletics Kenya, the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK), the Beijing Sports Centre, and the International Sports Exchange Centre to join forces and provide a progress report on the ongoing investigations.
”I call upon the Ministry of Sports together with Athletics Kenya and the National Olympics Committee of Kenya in collaboration with the Beijing Sports Centre and the International Sports Exchange Centre to provide a comprehensive update on the investigation into an incident during the Beijing half marathon. This incident involves our athletes ushering a Chinese marathoner to win a race,” Cherargei said.
Speaking during a senate seating on Tuesday afternoon, Cherargei made a lighthearted comment about Kenyans joking that Kenya was starting to pay off its debt by letting the Chinese win gold in marathons.
“..And people were making comments that maybe Kenyans are starting to pay their loans by allowing them to win,” Cherargei added.
Senator Cherargei highlighted that problems such as doping and match-fixing have stained the reputation of our nation in the field of athletics and sports, undermining the essence of fair competition.
“This among other issues Mr Speaker sir, such as doping, and fixing of athletics and sports have tarnished our nation’s repute internationally and undermined the principles of fair play and transparency in sportsmanship and kills the spirit of competition”, Cherargei noted.
On Sunday the 14th, a video emerged online depicting what appeared to be a deliberate action, as two Kenyan runners and one Ethiopian runner intentionally slowed down and gestured for China’s He Jie to claim the victory.
The video footage distinctly illustrates Robert Keter, Willy Mnangat, and Dejene Hailu Bikila deliberately engineering a scenario for He Jie to overtake them and seize the lead.
So far, Mnangat has broken silence over the alleged match-fixing. Speaking to BBC Sports Africa, Mnangat denied being a participant in the marathon.
He stated he alongside Keter and Dejene had been contracted to help break the Chinese half-marathon record of one hour two minutes 33 seconds, and that one of them did not finish the race.
The Beijing marathon organizers have since launched an investigation into the incident.