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NAIROBI - Weeks of bloody unrest in Kenya have cast a pall over the country's sporting ambitions and could haunt some of its leading athletes well beyond the end of the crisis.
In a nation famed for its middle distance and distance runners, athletes have been unable to train and sports fixtures have been cancelled because of the violence, triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election on December 27.
"Sports and tourism are what have given this country a name internationally. But with these problems, things will never be the same again," Patrick Sang, Kenya's 1992 Barcelona Olympics steeplechase silver medallist, said.
"People can't move freely as they used to. Roadblocks are erected everywhere. Athletes can't train in the forest in the morning without looking over their shoulders. The psychological effect is incredible and the scars will remain forever."
Sang runs a camp where steeplechase world champion Brimin Kipruto, who won silver in the last Olympics in Athens, former world 5000m champion Eliud Kipchoge and twice world junior crosscountry champion Viola Kibiwott all train.
Funded by Dutch-based Global Sports International, the camp is in Eldoret in the Rift Valley province, home to Kenya's great runners and the area worst affected by the unrest.
Lucas Sang, a 4x400m relay finalist at the 1988 Olympics, was killed in the melee that rocked Eldoret on New Year's Eve. About 30 people, including women and children, burned to death when a mob torched the church they were sheltering in.
Some athletics camps have been forced to close. Top managers such as Englishman Ricky Simms and Italian Gianni Demadonna, whose camps have the cream of Kenyan athletes, are closely watching events.
Dutchman Pieter Langerhorst, husband of world crosscountry and world half-marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat, closed down his camp in Iten, 30km north of Eldoret.
Simms and Demadonna said they might relocate their athletes if the situation worsens.
Other sports have not been spared the effects of the unrest.
The Safari Rally on March 21-23, a race that dates back to 1953, has been dropped from the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) calendar.
"I feel sorry for the event organisers, who have put in so much work to make the rally a success, but the safety of our competitors will always be our primary concern," said Jacques Behar, president of IRC series promoter Eurosport Events.
The Kenya Open Golf tournament, due to kick off the European Challenge Tour in Nairobi in March, has not been cancelled but there are fears it could suffer a similar fate.
Kenyan soccer champions Tusker have delayed preparations for the first round of the African Champions League, in which they play Al Tahrir of Eritrea, next month.
Some players who went upcountry for the Christmas holidays were unable to return to Nairobi in time to start training.
The athletics federation had to cancel two legs of the crosscountry circuit in Eldoret and Nyahururu, a big drawback for preparations for the March 30 World Crosscountry Championships in Scotland.
There are also worries about preparations for the Olympics in Beijing in August. David Okeyo, Athletics Kenya secretary-general, who was named Kenya's delegation leader for the Games, has summoned an emergency meeting of the management team.
He said: "We're getting concerned that there seems to be no quick solution to this. We must make a quick decision."
- Reuters
