Don’t force athletes to go to camp

Preparations for the Beijing Olympics begin in earnest this week, when elite athletes move into residential training camp in Eldoret and Nairobi, ahead of next month’s national trials.

This is the first time that Athletics Kenya are taking the athletes to camp way ahead of the national trials, a system that has worked very well for arch-rivals Ethiopia who organise long camping sessions for their runners.

But the big difference between Ethiopia and Kenya is that the latter’s athletics association has actually constructed training camps all over the country and has a well-synchronised training programme.

That Athletics Kenya has warned that any athlete who does not report to the camps in Eldoret and Nairobi risks being suspended is preposterous.

While we appreciate that early preparations are imperative if we are to rake in the medals in Beijing, it could have made more sense for the association’s technical officials to consult widely with each of the top athletes’ personal trainers and come up with water-tight programmes for both those who will be in camp and the ones that choose to train at their bases abroad.

That Athletics Kenya do not have training camps of their own gives them little ground to wield the big stick against the athletes and their managers, some of whom own their own camps.

Lack of harmony between the association, the athletes and their managers has previously led to serious discontent that has driven quite a talented crop of stars away to the Middle East and Europe.

Most of the top Kenyan athletes have invested large sums in personalised training while the association does little in contributing to these stars’ preparations.

It is, therefore, only fair to give such athletes a hearing rather than force them to go into camp and disrupt their previously planned training regime.

Dialogue and consultation are the best way forward for Athletics Kenya, the athletes and their agents if there is any hope of sending a unified and motivated team to Beijing in August.