The Standard:The day Kenyans sang national anthem 8 times (dap @ Jacky)

The day Kenyans sang national anthem 8 times

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By James Waindi in Bydgoszcz, Poland
It took Kenya 11 good years to win the 12km senior men’s race, but when the victory came, it came in style.

Kenyans living in Poland who flocked the Myslecinek Park to support their team, some coming from as far as Warsaw which is one hour by air, were not disappointed as the Kenyan anthem played a record eight times on Sunday afternoon during the 38th World Cross Country Championships.

Apart from winning the coveted 12km men’s title that had proved to be elusive over the years, the team under head coach David Leting managed also to bag all the other gold medals at stake in the competition, which included individual and team title and in the process dwarfing archrivals Ethiopia and the other 62 countries that participated.

Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku winning the 8km men’s race

The last time Kenya had a similar feat was 26 years ago in Budapest, Hungary. Repeating the achievement has been a tough task over the years. Mercy Cherono opened the party, leading a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the first race of the day — the junior women race which Kenyans last won in Mombasa 2007, then Caleb Ndiku staged a similar feat in the junior men’s race as Emily Chebet soared high in the senior women’s event, before Ebuya put icing on the cake.

"It is great to hear your anthem played in all the prize giving ceremonies. We worked hard for this and we deserved it," said Leting.
"Winning could be easy but defending is certainly the toughest task. So we have to lift our heads up and ensure we maintain the standards," said Leting.

Kenya’s anthem was the only one played in the entire competition as they swept all the key prizes on offer.

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tags: athletics, sports, kenya, track and field, poland