From grassroots to glory: The remarkable journey of Kenya's distance running superstars
By Sean Coppack, Timothy Tewell and Woojin Lee
Published July 22, 2024
Kenya is the pre-eminent Olympic nation in Africa. Kenyan runners boast more gold medals than any other African nation across all sports. The rise of its athletes has inspired Kenya and the world, with runners like Eliud Kipchoge redefining our understanding of human potential.
Africa's golden nation
Kenyan runners have won a remarkable 34 Olympic gold medals. To put that into context, no other African nation has won more than 30 gold medals across all sports in the history of the Olympic Games.
Read about two Kenyan superstars chasing history in Paris
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The astounding success of Kenyan runners places the nation in the global spotlight every Summer Olympics. In this episode of Inside Africa, we’ll visit the Rift Valley region, responsible for producing so many icons of distance running, and follow four athletes, each at a unique crossroads in their career but each with the same goal: to claim Olympic gold in Paris.
Special thanks to
NN Running Team
Credits
- Producer Sean Coppack
- Editors Mark Tutton and Mark Oliver
- Executive Producer Tom McGowan
- Photo JournalistNick Migwi
- Video Editor Ali Jalilsani
- Digital Designer Woojin Lee
- Senior Graphic Artist Timothy Tewell
- Web Developer Denis Bouquet
