AK mourns death of Rudisha’s father Daniel

Athletics Kenya (AK) has paid tribute to Daniel Rudisha, father of two-time Olympic champion David Lekuta, who died on Wednesday night at his hometown in Kilgoris.

The AK said it remembered Daniel as a ‘legend who set the foundation for the current crop of athletes’ as it confirmed his death in a statement on Thursday.

“It is with great sadness that we at Athletics Kenya learned of the passing of one of pioneer Kenyan athlete, Daniel Rudisha.

“On behalf of the athletics fraternity, we would like to send our deepest condolences to Rudisha’s family and the people Kilgoris at this difficult time.

“We mourn with you and celebrate the extraordinary life of this remarkable athlete who devoted his life to athletics,” the AK said.

On Tuesday, Rudisha Jr asked his Twitter following to wish his ailing a quick recovery before a posting subsequent tweet captioned ‘God is Faithful’ and showing his father under Intensive Care.

Rudisha Sr, alongside Hezekiah Nyamao, Charles Asati and the late Naftali Bon, placed Kenya firmly on the global athletics map in 1968 when they struck silver in the 4×400 metres relay at the Mexico Olympic Games.

The firm foundation they laid, saw Asati and Nyamao team up with Robert Ouko and the late Julius Sang four years later in Munich to elevate the title to gold, Kenya’s and Africa’s only Olympic gold medal ever in the 4x400m relay.

He is among the first lot of athletes who represented the country, not for monetary gains but for the love of the game.

His love for athletics inspired one of his sons David Rudisha to take up athletics and he is currently the world 800m record holder and two-time Olympic champion.

He also inspired the Konchella brothers— Billy and the late Patrick to continue with the athletics legacy in Kilgoris with the former winning two 800m world titles.