By ALLAN BULUKU

When Cesc Fabregas got off the bench to fire the Gunners to a thumping victory over a stubborn Aston Villa last weekend, I could only marvel at the Arsenal captain’s sheer ingenuity.

In sports, as in politics, there’s always one moment of brilliance which turns the pattern of a game or the destiny of a people. Often, pride is at stake. Take, for instance, Raila Odinga’s march from Kanu in 2002 with a gang of political heavyweights to form Narc. Though a loose ‘coalition of tribes’ it was, its superb grassroots campaign brought down the powerful Moi regime.

Across the Atlantic, the one moment we will always cherish in the past decade - which cuts across sports, politics, corruption, et al – is Barack Obama, a polished basketballer, taking the baton from the near nincompoop Texas rancher George Bush to become the “leader of the Free World”. The world stood still to welcome the first black US president, whom we jealously – and unashamedly – claimed as one of our own.

At the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Arsenal fans had their tail between their legs after an even first half against a side breathing down their neck. It was the Spaniard, inevitably, who picked the lock with typical dexterity, his cameo showing as explosive as any witnessed in the English Premier League in many seasons.

Such moments are rare and far between and stick in the mind like glue. In the past decade, we walked tall as our sports stars blazed the trail and made us proud with their track and field exploits. Many still recall with nostalgia the giant-slaying national cricket team at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The Steve Tikolo-led charges did the unthinkable to reach the semi-finals before Sourav Ganguly’s India brought our fairytale run to a screeching halt.

That great run captured the imagination of the nation and, for once, we all forgot our political and economic woes and were united by the safety valves of cricket as we always do whenever our world-beating athletes bring glory home.

Tikolo’s men inspired many. A colleague on the desk, Chris Tsuma, who covered the 2003 World Cup, could not have put it better on the man who meticulously spearheaded the Kenyan charge that rocked the top order of world cricket: “Tikolo’s off-spin hauled in crucial wickets, but it was his batting that really had tongues wagging in admiration.”

Like many other Kenyans, the Nation had underestimated the team and Tsuma was dispatched to South Africa on a lean budget to cover “just the preliminary round”. But as Kenya continued claiming scalp after scalp of the big shots, poor Tsuma found himself at the risk of not only starving but being homeless.

Giant-killing act

But the giant-killing act of his national team and the pride that followed provided solace and endurance to overcome even the most difficult of situations before the ‘emergency stimulus package’ was wired his way.

Tikolo and Co. may not have won the World Cup, but they returned home to a hero’s welcome. Traditional dancers, acrobats and beauty queens, as well as thousands of fans, packed the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and lined the streets to cheer them.

Then Sports minister Najib Balala said of the team’s feat: “Kenya did not win the World Cup but we certainly won many hearts all over the world. Steve and the boys united the whole country. We are a power to reckon with.”

Hot on the heels of the cricket magic a man emerged from one of Africa’s largest slums to steer Harambee Stars to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. Dennis “The Menace” Oliech unleashed a thunderous shot against a tiny, but gritty, Cape Verde in the final match of the qualifiers to see Stars through. The Mathare lad had also scored several crucial goals in the qualifiers to become one of the best strikers Kenya has ever produced.

Unfortunately, Stars’ later Nations Cup campaigns came a cropper, mainly due to a rudderless federation dogged by constant infighting and mismanagement. But the sideshows did not – and have not – affected Oliech, who has stood high above terra firma in his game. Francis Kimanzi, who coached him in the 2010 World Cup/Nations Cup campaign, attributes Oliech’s consistency over the decade to his maturity and character.

“Dennis has matured over the years and that’s why he has been able to stay at the top,” says Kimanzi. “Despite development in skill, these days he also accepts mistakes, relates well with his colleagues and has become a better professional. I have watched him from Mathare United to Qatar and now France. Dennis’s maturity [in age] has been the driving force behind his success.”

Seven minutes of fame

It’s the decade in which Pamela Jelimo rose, like a rose flower, from a sleepy village near Kapsabet to become the first Kenyan to win the IAAF Golden League Jackpot, pocketing a cool Sh78 million – in only seven races.

Bolting from the blues, Jelimo did not just win but she grabbed the prize with the force of a quivering magnetic arrow. In her specialty, the 800m, she was peerless. It was a first in Kenyan athletics and Jelimo was quickly christened “Kapsabet Express”. But alas! A year later she had vanished from the radar as mysteriously as she had appeared.

In the pool, Jason Dunford gave the nation some seven minutes of fame when he shattered Michael Phelps’s record at the Beijing Olympics. Yes, the Phelps, he who so grabbed medal after medal in Beijing one would have thought he was an offspring of a mermaid.

Dunford, predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter, did not win an Olympic medal, but the talented youngster had made us proud a year earlier at the All Africa Games in Algiers. “The Eel”, as he’s fondly known by his peers, returned home with seven medals. You would have been forgiven for thinking there was a ‘typing error’ in the medal standings whenever the name “Kenya” appeared beside a swimming medal.

On the track, our athletes continued to dominate in the middle-distance races and brushed aside the little disturbance from the Ethiopians. Taking the cue from the legendary Paul Tergat, our stars kept the flame alive with successful campaigns at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games.

But the best outing was at the 2007 Osaka World Championships where they made mincemeat of their traditional rivals to haul home a golden harvest of 13 medals, five of which were gold.

Earlier in the same year, Kenya floored archrivals Ethiopia in Mombasa for cross country supremacy. But arguably the biggest surprise was the gold medal-winning performance of Linet Masai in the junior women’s race. It was the very first contest of the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships and, truly, cross country had come home.

Then in the Berlin World Championships, Masai broke a 12-year jinx when she did what had hitherto proved impossible: she destroyed the Ethiopian stranglehold on the women’s 10,000m race to claim gold after a frenetic battle with Meselech Melkamu.

The glorious moments were however stained by some disgusting stuff off the track. Some greedy ‘black sheep’ of Kenya shamelessly thought it wise to sell their roots for 30 pieces of Middle Eastern silver. Not many were amused when, while running for Qatar, Saif Saeed Shaheen, the man we all know as Stephen Kiprono, beat Ezekiel Kemboi at the World Championships twice. Again, many won’t forgive Gregory Konchellah – who now goes by Yusuf Saad Kamel – of Bahrain and Bernard Lagat (USA) for what they did in Berlin.

There are many others, some of whom ended up stateless – like what befell one James Muchera. But even in the face of such betrayal, we took pride in what Kemboi, Jelimo, Noah Ngeny, Janeth Jepkosgey, Reuben Kosgey, Brimin Kipruto, Samuel Wanjiru, Abel Kirui, Linet Masai, Vivian Cheruiyot and many other patriotic Kenyans achieved on the track.

It would be an inexcusable error in judgment were I to wrap up the past decade in athletics without mentioning Tergat’s deep rivalry with his old foe, Haile Gebrselassie, which culminated in a thrilling clash at the Sydney Olympics. There the “Emperor” dramatically snatched victory from Tergat after the latter had led into the final lap. Oh boy, what a nerve-wracking finale it was.

In volleyball, the sport not only maintained its consistency but with it came a bonus: one Janet Wanja shot from school to become the face of women’s volleyball and, with looks to behold, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that she made volleyball sexy stuff.

It’s also the decade in which a young and talented Benjamin Ayimba, a brilliant homegrown coach, transformed sevens rugby and catapulted the nation to the levels of the once dreaded All Blacks, the Wallabies and the Springboks. Not only did we reach the 2009 Sevens World Cup semis, we also made huge strides in the IRB World Series.

“The issue about foreign coaches is largely to do with the mentality that someone from a background other than ours is more superior. This problem has been compounded by the fact that, even as we grow up, it was almost rude to express confidence lest you are blasted arrogant. This stifles our belief in our abilities and ourselves,” says Ayimba.

Dare-devil antics

We discarded the underdog tag to claim a place among the elite league of favorites in each tournament we took part in. Skipper Humphrey Kayange and his little brother, Collins Injera, steered the Kenyan ship with such finesse that it seemed scoring tries against the ‘big boys’ was as easy as pie. They just kept banging them.

But rather than chest thump and claim the credit, Ayimba said: “I’m most humbled by the performance of the team. I’m a product of a lot of sacrifices, failures and mistakes and therefore privileged to be the head of a team of such a dedicated and talented group of players. We have made huge strides with the help of Felix Ochieng’ and Oscar Osir and our physio, George Odhiambo.”

On a surface designed for speed, Ian Duncan simply refused to give way. You just have to give it to the man who continued flying his cars, motorbikes and buggies at the helm of local motorsport for his dare-devil antics and unrivalled talent. As we close the decade, we march into the future confidently, knowing that we can only excel in doing what we do best – sending our opponents tumbling while we cram the cabinet with trophies.
Source:  http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/-/1090/833350/-/item/0/-/36w2wy/-/index.html