Beijing 2008 Olympic 800m champion Wilfred Bungei believes most Kenyan athletes tend to struggle financially upon retirement due to their inability to invest their earnings.
Bungei, 43, retired from running in 2010, before venturing into hospitality business and also tried his hand in politics. However, he also struggled with alcoholism for a while, a problem he admitted threatened to put his investments in jeopardy.
Now fully reformed, Bungei has given his opinion on why most former sportsmen struggle to sustain themselves financially upon retirement.
“Most sportsmen and women get a lot of money when they are still very young,” Bungei told KTN News
“Second, they may not get someone to advise them on investment. Three, most of them get the money and think they cannot listen to anyone. The ones with the know it all syndrome. It is a challenge we have had and the other day, I spoke to Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba and he asked me, ‘Wilfred, what can we do so that we do not see these incidents (happening a lot anymore?).
“I think it falls on both the federations and agents. I was fortunate to have a very good agent and coach who mentored me like a father. He told me, ‘every coin you get, make sure you invest.’
“The life of a sportsperson is short. Most of us retire at 30. When you retire at 30, what are you going to be doing all the other years if you do not invest well?”
“If today at 22 you want to buy a Toyota V8, a TX, a Mercedes, what will you drive at 50? So many of our sportsmen do not even buy a house when they get money. They think about buying a car. My agent told me that you can buy cars later on. Invest your money first.
“Another thing is lifestyle. Some people want to live certain lifestyles. If I am staying in a five-star hotel in Europe, I want when I come back to Kenya, instead of going back to the village, you want to go to a five-star hotel because you (think) are doing well, and this is where we go wrong as athletes.”
Bungei has also given his opinion on how retired athletes can avoid finding themselves in such situations, championing for mentorship programmes that involve athletes being spoken to in order to make them more responsible in utilising their financial resources.
“We need to talk to our sports men and women, especially our athletes. We need to make them understand that they will not see the same amount of money they earn once they retire,” he added.
“If you win an Olympic medal today, number one, the kitting company may give you $100,000 (Ksh14 million). The winning prize for example at the World Championships is $60,000 (Kssh8.4 million). In just single day, you may get $200,000 (Ksh28 million).
“Some of the marathoners, we are talking $300,000 (Ksh42 million) in a single day. That is money you will never see afterwards. That is why we need to talk to our sportsmen and women to make them understand they need to invest so that they can live a better life.”
