There must be something about the 800m. Eight years ago, when Sebastian Coe failed to qualify for the Seoul Olympics in the British trials, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan-Antonio Samaranch. came up with the idea that a wild card could be granted to the 800m world record holder to allow him to line up in Seoul. But after a deafening howl of protest, the idea was dropped and the reigning Olympic Champion watched the event on television.
Eight years later the idea of a wild card was again discussed as a means of helping the new prince of the 800m, Wilson Kipketer. a man born and raised in Kenya but who was trying to obtain full citizenship of his adopted country Denmark. When, as a result of the intransigence of the various authorities, the doors to the Olympics seemed firmly closed the athlete's manager, Andrzej Kulikowski brought up the idea of a wild card as a last resort. A wild card, he argued, would enable Kipketer to compete neither for Kenya nor for Denmark, but for the Olympic movement. Unfortunately. the Games are no mere athletics meeting and without a valid passport Kipketer was definitely out. A sad conclusion to endless conversations and negotiations.
It must be said that the problem had been foreseen for a long time. Almost since 1990. This was the year that Kipketer, along with his compatriot Robert Kiplagat, decided to finish his studies in Denmark. A Dane, Ovar Bjarn Kraft, had seen them competing in the Kenyan Schools National Championships, and offered them two one-way tickets to Copenhagen, thus claiming two future heroes for his country's athletics movement.
And so Kipketer left the high plateau of Nandip, which is situated at an altitude of 2000m, for the Pont of Copenhagen where he studied agronomy, and then engineering. He loved the country, its beer and its inhabitants and decided to settle there for good. To most of his family's dismay he also decided to adopt Danish nationality as well. Kipketer's destiny was therefore sealed. Danish law stipulates that one can obtain full citizenship after living in the country for seven years. And although the IAAF rules regarding residency and nationality enabled Kipketer to compete (and impose himself) at the 1995 World Championships for Denmark. the IOC rules are far stricter.
The Danish Federation did all it could to enable its world champion to compete in Atlanta. The President of the Danish Federation, Thomas Thorsen, even made requests to the Danish government to have the Danish Parliament modify the legislation. It was in vain.
Thorsen then approached the Kenyan Federation and the Kenyan Olympic Committee and asked them to help Wilson compete for his new country. But his appeals were rejected. It is true that Kipketer's decision to change nationality' had not been well received in his land of birth. The President of the Republic Daniel Arap Mol even went so far as to call Kipketer's desire "unpatriotic". The Kenyan Olympic Committee never lifted its veto. But it was generous enough to propose that Kipketer could take part in the Kenyan trials in order to try and qualify for the Olympics for his old country. Yet had Kipketer taken up this offer he would not only have insulted his new countrymen but also been unable to defend his world title at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. Kipketer was tormented by these affairs for the first part of the summer until the idea of a wild card was brought up and rejected. With a heavy heart. Kipketer then gave up the idea of competing in the Olympics.
With the reaction worthy of a great champion. Kipketer swallowed his disappointment. showed no bitterness and made no angry declarations to the press. In L'Equipe he did criticise his new country by saying: "I have harder feelings towards the Danish government than towards my old country. It is quite easy to understand the Kenyans' position. I had been preparing for these Olympics for four years. It is not easy to accept this decision but I have to live with it." was his opinion, admitted with a sigh.
With the support of his Danish girlfriend. Pernilla, he prepared his post-Olympic revenge. During the Games he went to high altitude Saint-Moritz in Switzerland, and trained especially hard for the late season. As Kulikowski explained, "his goal was to break the world record." He narrowly failed. but still lined up an incredible string of performances during the last weeks of the summer. In a globe trotting campaign from Monaco to Tokyo he competed in six races and ran five sub 1:43 times. His worst performance, because of a suicidal first 400m, was in Berlin where he clocked I :43.84.
He saved his best race for Rieti. the meeting organised by Sandro Giovannelli which suffers some kind of crisis every year but still produces world record breaking performances. This year. just before Daniel Komen took over from Noureddine Morceli on the world record list for 3000m, Kipketer ran what would prove to be his best and yet his worst race ever. Best, because for the first time in his life he broke the 1:42 barrier to come within one tenth of the now mythical record of Sebastian Coe- 1:41.83 against 1:41.73.
Worst, because Kipketer committed an error of judgement. At the bell his time of 49.7 was the same as Coe during his world record race in Florence. "There was a time during the race when I let my mind wander. Where I failed to realise that I was on course to break the record. Only when the stadium announcer shouted that I was closing on Coe's record did I react. I accelerated in the final 150 metres but it was too late," explained Kipketer. In effect, in the third quarter of the race Kipketer simply followed the pace imposed by Kenyans, Kibet and Kiptoo, whereas in 1981 Coe made his toughest effort in this portion of the race. Going through 600 metres Kipketer was roughly 1.4 seconds slower than Coe had been on his way to the record (76.4 to Coe's 75.0). Kipketer's desperate sprint was not enough, and he missed the record by a fraction. At least he has the satisfaction of knowing that he is only the third man to break the 1:42 barrier after Coe, and the 1984 Olympic Champion Joaquim Cruz.
By repeatedly running under 1:43 Kipketer had displayed his excellent form but had remained at a respectable distance from Coe. But now, after Rieti. he knows for sure. that he can break the record and so has shattered an important psychological barrier. "He certainly needs to gain more experience before the world record is broken but he can certainly threaten it." wrote Sebastian Coe in this very magazine last year. The facts have proved him right sooner than he probably expected. What does Kipketer lack in order to beat the record of a man who is now a British Member of Parliament? A steady pace. Perfect climatic conditions. Perhaps also, rivals who could push him a little harder. Of course there is the Olympic Champion, Vebjorn Rodal. but Kipketer had no problems beating him in any of their recent races - maybe not surprisingly since Rodal peaked for the Games. And apart from him, who could push Kipketer to his limits when that means running sub 1:42?
Kipketer has his own answer to the world record question. As he told L'Equipe: "Beating the world record is more than a question of split times, it is a question of steady pace. You need to run a race without slowing and accelerating too much. The problem generally is that there are too many runners in races. The 800m should be run with eight runners, but because organisers are afraid of last minute withdrawals they sign up more competitors than they need, which always makes the race choppy. Who is competing is irrelevant. I will not demand that any runner be omitted. What I am asking for is a race with eight runners, so that the pace is regular."
It now seems inevitable that the record falls to the Dane soon. Kipketer is only 23 and has a solid future ahead, which should climax in Sydney and the 2000 Olympic Games. He will then have a full Danish passport. But four years is a long time and Kipketer may not be as fast then as today. Let us all hope he will not come to regret his absence from Atlanta for the rest of his life.
Marc Ventouillac is a sports writer for L 'Equipe newspaper.