The hopes of strife-torn Sudan for an elusive Olympic medal lie squarely on the teenaged shoulders of 800m runner Abubaker Kaki Khamis, in only his second full season over the event.
Kaki, as he is known, has taken the world stage by storm and while not reaping the notoriety of Sudan-born runner Lopez Lomong, who was picked as the United States team’s flag-bearer at the Games opening ceremony, is a much surer bet for a podium finish.
Kaki, just 19, arrives in Beijing as the All-African and Pan-Arab champion in the 800m. He recorded a leading time this season of 1:42,69 at the Bislett Games in Oslo in June and has been in imperious form in the two-lap event.
His time was also a new world junior record, knocking a massive 0,95 seconds off Kenyan Japheth Kimutai’s previous best in 1997, and a sharp reminder that a great talent had arrived.
”Great pace, great race. I felt the power. My first world record. I’m extremely happy,” said Kaki at the time.
In March, Kaki had become the youngest world indoor champion (at 18 years and 262 days) when winning a gripping 800m final in Valencia.
He led from start to finish, and completed the final 200m in just over 26 seconds.
”My coach told me to go to the front and run as fast as possible and these tactics were good,” he said.
”I think I can run well in Beijing.”
Kaki acknowledged that the world indoors in Spain had offered him a chance to alter the negative world view of Sudan.
The African country has been wracked by ongoing civil unrest that has seen 300 000 deaths in the Darfur region, according to UN estimates, as well as the displacement of 2,2-million others since 2003. The Sudanese government puts the number of fatalities at 10 000.
”Valencia was a great experience. It was the one thing I could do to change the bad image of my country,” said Kaki, whose own training had been disrupted earlier in the season when unrest prevented him and his training group leaving Khartoum for a high-altitude camp in Yemen.
Kaki then surprised many by competing, and winning, at July’s World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Kaki’s welcome back to football-obsessed Sudan after winning the world indoor title was incredible, he added, admitting that the government had also gifted him a parcel of land.
”I could not believe it. There were about 15 000 people on the street and at the airport.”
Kaki’s coach, Jama Aden, a former Somalian 800m runner who has taken up British citizenship, said his charge was now the most popular sportsman in Sudan.
”They are expecting him to win [Olympic gold],” said Aden, who first noticed Kaki as a 15-year-old in a school cross-country run in which he set off at a fast rate of knots but faded to finish 20th.
”I don’t think a silver medal at the Olympics is good enough for them after what I have seen from the reception at the airport. It was like Brazil winning the World Cup.”
Despite enjoying training camps in Yemen, Sweden and Spain, most sessions still take place in Sudan, according to Aden.
”We train for the most part in Khartoum, which has the only track in the country. At each training session, there are 3 000 fans who come and cheer us on.”
Aden said Kaki may plough some funds into rebuilding training facilities in Sudan should he continue his winning ways on the lucrative European circuit.
”He can’t be number one in the world and train with those facilities. We really appreciate it when we come to Europe and see the facilities and think ‘wow’. If Sudan had facilities like that, they would produce millions of Kakis.”
Asked if he was eyeing Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer’s 800m world record of 1:41,11, Kaki said: ”That may be for another year. But anything is possible and I always give it my best shot.” – AFP
