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Marathon champion survives
another attack
Story by NATION Reporter
15. 02. 2008
World marathon champion Luke Kibet has survived yet another
attempt on his life in violence sparked by the disputed vote
tallying of the December’s presidential poll.
The Wednesday attack comes barely five weeks after he escaped
another one at his Eldoret home.
Speaking Thursday at his Industrial Area Prisons Remand house, Mr
Kibet asked the Government to provide security to all athletes.
Dead sheep
The attack occurred at Kinungi, near Naivasha.
Driving from Eldoret, Mr Kibet, in the company of four other
athletes, who included Kenya Police’s Jonathan Komen, came across
dead sheep strategically placed on the road. When they stopped to
clear the road, they were confronted by a group of six men who
demanded to know why the driver had “killed” their sheep.
“They did not want to listen to us and when they realised who we
were, they called for reinforcement as they wailed and threatened
to set our car on fire and kill us,” he said.
At this point, Mr Kibet drew a pistol, which bought them time to
board their car and drive from the scene.
The attack is the third on a Kenyan athlete with two others —
Lucas Sang and Wesley Ng’etich — already killed.
Mr Kibet, who is due to compete in the national cross country
trials slated for March 1 at the Ngong Race Course, is upbeat that
he will make the Kenyan team to this year’s championships in
Edinburgh. However, he casts doubt on the country’s prospects for
the event, which it has dominated for over two decades now.
“It is difficult for many athletes to concentrate on their
training whereas their own families are living under constant
threats of attacks,” he said, adding that athletes had cut down on
the distance and time they take to train.
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