The Kenyan who ran the Hurja ME pipe in 1978 died at the age of 72. Life management was already problematic in the best years of my career; in the Olympic Games, Henry Rono never even got to try.
– He was a bright man and a fast-paced man. Lujaa traveled both on and off the track.
This is how the great hurdler, who reached his current hometown of Berlin, recalled Arto Bryggare endurance running legend Henry Ronoa, who died on Thursday in Nairobi at the age of 72. During the international competition tours, Bryggare got to know the Kenyan seven years older.
Finland remembers the 1978 endurance running season in particular Martti from Vainio, who at the beginning of September at the European Championships in Prague ran for Finland’s most recent gold medal on smooth track distances. Globally, however, that season was Rono’s celebration. Between April 8 and June 27, the Kenyan ran world records at 3000, 5000 and 10,000 meters, as well as in the 3000-meter hurdles. The trick was and is wild.
– Henry’s basic talent was unfathomable, especially in terms of oxygen intake. Technically, we didn’t talk about the polished diamond until the very end, Bryggare laughs.
He describes Rono’s step as a little bouncy; according to the 5-time medalist of the speed fences, the technique reminded me of something Kaarlo Maaningawho in 1980 won two Olympic medals in endurance running.
“Didn’t master the obstacle techniqueâ€
Among Rono’s summer 1980 world records, the best time is the obstacle time of 8:05.4, which is still ranked 34th in the all-time world statistics.
– It is incredible considering that Henry did not master obstacle technology at all. He ran hard between the obstacles and somehow jumped over the bars. Not found in the legs Anders Gärderud (Swedish Olympic champion and ME man) technical finesse and not from the top Raitanen’s top computer.
Where Bryggare was allowed to try for Olympic success three times and achieved a medal once, this was not favorable for Rono. Kenya boycotted the Summer Olympics in both 1976 and 1980.
– Henry is certainly one of the toughest athletes who didn’t even get to try at the games.
The wine tasted good
Even in the best years of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rono’s career was marked by occasional alcohol abuse, mood swings and throwing around weight.
– It was pretty wild to see when he competed 10 kilos overweight.
In Finland, Rono competed a few times. In Turku on July 7, 1981, he competed in 5000 meters in perfect condition and ran a time of 15:40.85. In that season, 147 Finnish men ran that distance harder than the Kenyan star.
The stomach drop was followed by quite a movement, because on September 13, in Knarvik, Norway, the ME time of 13.06.20, which was the last of his career, was born on the same trip.
After his career faded, Rono spent a long time in the USA, where he also studied in the state of Washington when he was young. The forgotten greatness supported himself with various jobs.
– We need to remember what the Kenya of the 1960s and 70s was like, where Henry first grew from a child to a youth and then from a youth to an adult. It was not easy to build a sustainable vision of such a thing as a sports career there. Long-term goal awareness was completely missing. If only he had gotten it From Sebastian Coe even a gram, it would have been gross. Not even a kilo would have been needed, Bryggare refers to the English star miler of the same era.
Progress has really been made in Kenya. Bryggare raises, for example, the megastar of marathon running Eliud Kipchogen.
– When you look at how he invests in his performance and his recovery and his career as a whole, you can already compare it to anyone.
The past week in Kenya’s national sport has been tough, because the 24-year-old ME man of the marathon Kelvin Kiptum died in a car accident on Sunday.