Henry Rono’s Long Road Back Home

His talent blossomed when he was recruited by the army, in which his duties consisted mainly of training. Rono’s big break came before the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He was named to the Kenyan squad and was expected to be a major threat in both the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase. But Kenya’s government announced an 11th-hour boycott, joining most African countries in protesting the inclusion of New Zealand, whose national rugby team was touring apartheid South Africa.

“I thought this man would come home with two golds,” said Keino, who had been coaching the Kenyan team in Canada before the boycott was announced.

There was solace: After a 1973 court ruling scuttled an N.C.A.A. rule that placed limits on foreign athletes considered “overage,” American college coaches were increasingly recruiting Africans, particularly in track. Two months after missing the Montreal Games, despite never having been to high school, Rono found himself in Pullman, Wash., where a young coach, John Chaplin, was nurturing a talented group of Kenyan runners.

As Rono struggled to adjust to schooling and life in the United States, running was his way to “release tension.” By his second year of training in the Snake River Canyon, he shifted into a new gear. Rono didn’t simply break four world records: He obliterated them in low-key meets with little competition, on a diet of cheeseburgers and Budweiser. His stride wasn’t the most graceful. But his willpower, and barrel-chested force, were collectively unmatched.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/sports/henry-rono-world-records.html