Elite coaching special - The secrets of Kenya's success

The Facts
Paul said there were truths about why the Kenyans are different: "If you Train Hard You Win Easy. If you do something hard you get it in a better way. To make good tea you need milk, sugar and a tea bag. You have to sweat and work to get the milk, to get the sugar and get the tea. If you don't it tastes bad, if you do then it tastes good."

Train hard, win easy is a key phrase but diet is also important he said: "When you are in the UK and you want something you get it from the fridge. In Kenyan if I want to cook an onion I pick it from the farm. We don't use genetically modified food.”

A low income also gives a drive for success: "In Kenya the standard of living is terrible. Employment is the number one problem. If someone runs a race and wins $1000 that is 70000 Kenyan shillings. It would take a full year for an officer in the army to earn that much. To just wake up and make your legs move and win $1000 is a main factor!”

The word ‘harambee’ is well known to Kenyans. Paul explained: "Harambee means pulling together as a group. The first president said this in 1960 when Kenya gained its independence. One person can do nothing by himself. You need to depend on each other - you can't build a school on your own. Children born in Kenya are brought up with the village. He remains in a group not as an individual. You learn as a group and not an individual. The spirit is in athletics now. Harambee is a national spirit. There is nothing that is achievable other than doing it as a group.

“We have to train with up and coming runners so they can catch up and be up with you. We train as a group, we train together. That has enabled us to do very well in the world championships. And it means one coach can look after more than 100 athletes. It is very easy for them to train together as they understand each other fully. Here in the UK how many athletes can a coach train? One or two? In Kenya we have 60 athletes with one person. The training programmes in Kenya are not from a book. The coach wakes up and makes the programme for that day. If he needs to change the training he will do so.”

The keys to Kenyan success are likely to be debated long and hard. But the Kenyan athletes are open about what they do and what they think it is that makes the difference to their training. The question remains – how many Western athletes will take up the challenge.



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