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Kenya’s fourth appearance at an Olympic games would be a special one for various reasons. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico were the first to be held in a developing country and at high altitude.

It was also the first time since their maiden Olympics appearance in 1956 that the Kenyan contingent of 39 athletes included women- the 18 year old duo of Elizabeth Chesire and Tekla Chemabwai as well as 22 year Lydia Stephens who were all part of the athletics team.

Kenya has competed in almost every Olympic Games since making their debut at the Melbourne Olympics of 1956. With the exception of the 1976 and 1980 games which Kenya and other countries boycotted for varying reasons, it has been a long, winding journey filled with many firsts, highs and lows along the way too. I begin documenting Kenya’s journey over the years.

Already eliminated and taking on the West Indies at the Nehru Stadium in Pune with absolutely nothing to lose, Kenya went on to pull off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, quite literally taking the wind out of the Windies’ sails. They looked dead and buried after managing 166 all out in a less than satisfactory batting performance.

Samuel Wanjiru was Kenya’s first Olympic marathon champion; he took the gold medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, and his time of two hours, six minutes and 32 seconds, shaved nearly three minutes off the previous Olympic record set in 1984 by Carlos Lopes of Portugal. In attaining this feat, he became the youngest gold medalist in the marathon since 1932.