Kipchoge Keino to be first recipient of new Olympic Laurel award

National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) chairman Kipchoge Keino. Mr Keino will be the first athlete to receive new Olympic Laurel award on August 5, 2016 for outstanding achievements in social engagements through sports. PHOTO | FILE.

What you need to know:

  • Laurel award will be given every four years during the during the Olympic games.
  • After retiring from competition in 1973, Mr Keino opened a children’s home, which is today home to almost 100 Kenyan orphans.
  • Three years later, he opened the Kip Keino High Performance Training Centre, to train the most promising athletes in Kenya.
  • The stone used in the trophy comes from the site of Olympia and symbolizes the connection with the ancient Olympic Games.

Veteran Kenyan athlete and two- times Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino is set to be the first ever athlete to receive the Olympic Laurel award.

The award has been created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to honour outstanding sportsmen and women for their achievements in social engagements.

Mr Keino will receive the award on Friday during the official opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Laurel award will be given every four years during the during the Olympic games to those with achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport.

“Keino has been chosen by an independent judging panel from the five continents,” the article indicated.

The panel included famous author Paulo Coelho, Michaëlle Jean the secretary general of La Francophonie (Americas), United Nations Under-Secretary and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former president of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Oceania) José Ramos-Horta, actor Michelle Yeoh (Asia) and IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge (Europe).

The website quoted Mr Coelho saying: “The most deserving candidate is the one who, through his achievements and projects, helps to build a better world and advance the cause of individuals.”

After retiring from competition in 1973, Mr Keino opened a children’s home, which is today home to almost 100 Kenyan orphans.

In 1999, he opened the Kip Keino School in a marginilised community that lacked schools, offering more than 300 children aged between 6 to13 a chance to get an education.

Three years later, he opened the Kip Keino High Performance Training Centre, to train the most promising athletes in Kenya.

“Starting with Rio 2016, the Olympic Laurel will be awarded at the Opening Ceremony of each edition of the Olympic Games,” the article stated in part.

The stone used in the trophy comes from the site of Olympia and symbolizes the connection with the ancient Olympic Games.

The creation of the Olympic Laurel is one of the initiatives that emerged from recommendation 26 of Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement, to further strengthen the blending of sport and culture.