Asbel Kiprop has pleaded with Kenyans to stop ridiculing him for his poor tactics in Rio that saw him finish a distant sixth in a race he was seen as the obvious winner.
In a heartfelt message on his Facebook page, Kiprop reminded Kenyans that he was still their own son who’d won in previous races.
He posted:
“Enough please those who expressed their emotions social media towards me due to my race tactics & lose last night. Spare me for the good i have ever done to Kenya. I have a lot to offer in store. But it’s hurting even more what I read. Remember I’m the only Kenyan who have ever won his country 1500m 3 times at the world championship; yes I’m that Kenyan who represented you in the heating conditions in Mombasa & won you glory as a junior in 2007. I’m your own. I’m born & raised in Kenya under the same flag and National colours. NA TUKAE NA UNDUGU AMANI NA UHURU. Spare me please I don’t deserve the accusations. I will do much better than that. I’m sorry.”
American Mathew Centrowitz won the race in 3:50:00, while Algerian’s Taoufik Makhloufi took silver in 3:50.11 followed by New Zealand’s Nicholas Willis in 3:50.24. Kiprop came a distant sixth.
