By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
Athletics is one of the highest-paying sports in this country, at least based on the millions that Kenyan athletes earn for winning local and international races.
Taking an example of the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, the winner Benson Kipruto bagged about Ksh 13 million – Ksh10.6 million for winning the race and Ksh2.9 million for breaking the course race.
Several other races also offer handsome rewards, not only for the winners but also for the participants.
Back home, the government recently started implementing a new policy where an athlete who breaks a world record is rewarded with Ksh5 million among others.
Athletes make millions from running.
But how do they invest? We take a look at some of the investments that some of the veteran and young athletes have put in using the huge sums of money that they have been earning.
Kipchoge Keino
Kipchoge Keino is one of the veteran Kenyan athletes. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long-distance runners to come from the country.
Over the years Kipchoge Keino has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today.
Among his main investments is the Keino School located on the outskirts of Eldoret town.
Last year, the family revealed that it was planning to set up a mega sports complex.
The family also owns Kipkeino Sports House in Eldoret which exclusively sells sports merchandise.
Vivian Cheruiyot
The one-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion has investment intrests in various sectors.
He has two petrol stations in Eldoret named Oslo.
Vivian also invested in rental houses within the Kapsoya estate in Eldoret alongside several tracks of land where she ventures in agriculture.
Moses Kiptanui
Kiptanui is a former 3,000 steeplechase champion. He has invested heavily in real estate and owns several buildings within Eldoret town.
One of the buildings that he owns is Komora Centre. The multi-storey building located in the Town Centre hosts several businesses.
Utamadumi House is another building that the former athlete owns.
The athlete also owns a supermarket –Tulin Supermarket, which has two branches in Eldoret town and two others in Kachibora Trading Centre – Trans Nzoia County.
According to the Standard, Moses Kiptanui also owns Komora Estate in London, United Kingdom.
“This is our fourth branch after many years of trying to catch up (with other retailers). It is good to sacrifice running for the country and also sacrifice in this world of business,” Kiptanui told journalists during the opening of the second branch in 2021.
Moses Tanui
This is another veteran athlete who has invested in Eldoret Town.
Tanui is a two-time Boston Marathon winner and was the first man in the world to run the half marathon in under one hour.
He was also among the first to win IAAF Grand Prix races. Proceeds from the race were invested in a building in Eldoret which he named after it – GrandPri Hotel.
Many other athletes have made different investments from their earnings.
However, there have been concerns that some sportsmen and women do not have the required knowledge to make good investment decisions.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is on record advising the sportsmen and women to invest wisely.
“We urge our sportsmen and women making money to use it wisely, invest and save,” the DP said.
He noted that it has been embarrassing to see sports living a devastating life.
“We urge them to endeavour to invest whatever they get from sports because one day they will get old and they will need to live a dignified life,” Gachagua said.
His remarks came at a time when there were concerns over some veteran athletes wallowing in poverty despite winning millions when they were active in sports.