Meet the first Kenyan to win an Olympic medal, W.K.A Chumo

WILSON KIPRUGUT ARAAP CHUMO (1938 - 2022)

Wilson Kiprugut Araap Chumo, the first Kenyan to win an Olympic medal, a man of Sawe ageset, a retired army senior Sergeant, a Kings African Rifles Veteran, a phenomenal athlete, a family man and a respected Kalenjin elder passed on recently, he was 83.

When the story of Kalenjin Athletics dominance is written, Araap Chumo will be on the first page of the first chapter.

Kiprugut Araap Chumo is part of the group that made the world realize that the Kalenjin people were a special athletic breed.

Kalenjin athletes have phenomenal stamina. Henry Rono broke world records after downing a litre of Vodka. Sabina Jebichi won the 880 yards barefoot.

Since Kenya first participated at the Olympic Games in 1956, winning medals proved a hard nut to crack. For years, no athlete had won any Olympic trophy. But in 1964, one champion put the country on the global map. That man was Kiprugut.

The celebrated athlete collapsed at his Kipchebor home near Kericho town on Tuesday and was pronounced dead at Siloam Hospital.

Wilson Kiprugut Chumo was the first Kenyan and African, to win an Olympic medal when he bagged bronze in the 880 yards (now 800 metres) race at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

This summer 2020, Kenya returned to Tokyo for the Olympic Games with fond memories of the first Games in the Japanese capital 56 years previously.

He is the first athlete to win an Olympic medal for Kenya. Then the floodgates opened. Then a seargent with the Kenya Army, the chief of General Staff himself General Ndolo welcomed him personally at Embakasi Airport.

The renowned Kenyan middle-distance legend passed away in Kericho county on Tuesday evening after a long illness. He was 84 years old at the time of his death.

Kiprugut made a breakthrough on the international stage after storming to the silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.

He also stole the headlines with two gold medals in the 400 and 800 meters at the first All-African Games held in Brazzaville, Congo in 1965.

The following year, he clinched a bronze medal in the 880 yards at the Commonwealth Games held in Kingston, Jamaica.

Kiprugut sealed a slot in the Kenyan team that placed fifth in the 4400 yards at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia. His teammates in the event included Peter Francis, Seraphino Antao, and Kimaru Sonkok.

Kiprugut's budding talent began to blossom during the East and Central African Championships where he won three 880-yard titles.

The former senior sergeant in the army from Kericho County says he started running while still a student at Kaptebeswet Primary School and Sitotwet Intermediate School in the 1950s. He recalls taking part in the East African athletic championships in 1958, where army scouts identified his talent and recruited him into the African Rifles.

“I used to make a round trip of 40km each day to school, a thing that helped me to develop my running ability and enhanced my athletics stamina,” Kiprugut says.

After completing the armed forces training, the humble man who now concentrates on small-scale farming activities a few kilometres from Kericho town says he went back to training hard on the track.

In 1962, he led the 4x 440 yards team, (whose other members were Kimaru Sonkok, Peter Francis and Seraphino Antao) in representing Kenya at the Commonwealth Games held in Perth, Australia.

Every generation produces its heroes and heroines and in our time we have many shining stars in athletics who are flying the Kenyan flag high all over the world and it all started with Kiprugut Chumo.

But much as the late Kiprugut was a legendary runner, none of his nine children followed in his footsteps.

The 2010 Kenyan Sports Personality of the year and ‘Hall of Fame’ award winner in an earlier interview, recalled with nostalgia how tears of joy rolled down his cheeks as the Kenyan flag was hoisted for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.

As you arrive Kericho town, which is the headquarters of Kericho County, one is welcomed with good serene and fresh air thanks to the tea plantations surrounding the town.

And next to Kipsigis Girls High School, is where the legend Kiprugut lives in a two-bedroom house on a four-acre farm surrounded by tea plantations with two of his sons living next to him.

His house is decorated with pictures of past races he participated in with a
certificate of appreciation from Kenya
Amateur Athletics Association (now
Athletics Kenya) in one corner.

He also has medals tugged in one of theboxes in his house as the only thing that reminds him of how he brought glory in the country.

He used the savings he got from his work to buy the land and build a permanent house at a time he says they used to run and represent the country with no
rewards.

“I used my own savings from the Kenya Army to build this house because we were not rewarded when representing our country during the championships,”

Born in August, 1938 in Kinamget,
Ainamoi, Kericho County, Kiprugut went to Kaptebeswet Primary School up to class four before joining Sitotwet Primary School up to standard seven where he graduated in 1958.

In 1959, he was recruited by King’s African Rifles (now Kenya Defence Forces) where he served before embarking on serious training as he sharpened his skills in the athletics field.

We should start by immediately renaming the Kericho Green Stadium Wilson Kiprugut Araap Chumo stadium in his honor.