Appoint legends to manage sport, urges Komen

World 3,000m record holder Daniel Komen has called upon the national and county governments to appoint veteran sportsmen to head sports departments so as to avoid wrangles and misappropriation of funds that has been witnessed in the recent past.

Komen, who in 1997 bagged gold in 5,000m in the IAAF World Championships in Athens,Greece, said the only way the country will flourish in sports, is by having those with experience in various sports disciplines take charge.

“Bad politics has hampered the growth of sports in the country. This is because we have people heading different federations who don’t value sports. They take sports lightly and that’s why you find joy riders to places like Rio, during the Olympics in 2016, leading to the suffering of our sports men .This should not be entertained,” he charged.

In a lengthy interview on Hotbreakfast,  Komen who  currently holds the world records for the 3,000 metres both outdoors (7:20.67 set in 1996) and indoors (7:24.90 set in 1998), also called on the county government to set aside enough funds to help nurture talents from the grassroots.

“With the devolved government, we need to have proper structures put in place so as to ensure talent is tapped and nurtured from the grass root. This can only happen if people with the vision to grow sports in the country are appointed to head the sports federations in counties and in national government,” he added.

Back -to -back

In addition to his 7.58.61minutes world record in the 2-mile race set in 1997, Komen remains the only man in history to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles, splitting circa 3:59.4 on both the first and second half of the race. He has a promise for those who will break his records.

“I had made a promise that any Kenyan who break any of my records, I will give him a brand new Mercedes Benz .For a foreigner, I will give them a piece of land so that they can come and invest in the country .The offer is still valid but it expires at the end of the year because it seems no one might break it,”he said