Nairobi — When Sports Minister Maina Kamanda directed Athletics Kenya to keep passports of school going athletes last August, he not only spared the future of a of runners but also offered the tonic for a serious malaise that had befallen Kenyan athletes.

Kenya's Lucy Wangui Kabuu is greeted by spectators during a victory lap after winning the gold medal in the women's 10,000 metres at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Cases of athletes burning out even before they had began their careers or the Kenyan propensity for producing one-season wonders had reached levels that sparked concern.

Nobody can account for most athletes who competed in the 2003 world championships in a sport ruled by a select group of athletes like Kenenisa Bekele, Asafa Powell, Xiang Liu, Sherome Simpson, Sanya Richards and Meseret Defar, just to mention a few.

All gold medal winners from the IAAF World junior Championships in Beijing, China where Kenya finished first in the medal standings received cash reward from President Mwai Kibaki.

Prize money scheme

A Sh5 million sponsorship deal for cross-country by Tusker has provided a reason to compete for senior athletes.

The government also came up with a prize money scheme for sports people who represent the country at international meetings. A gold medal at the All Africa Games and the track and cross-countryWorld Championships could be worth Sh1 million in the new year.

Refreshingly, these juniors re-affirmed their rising potential by dominating the ANOCA Games early this month. All this is targeted with a view to more success at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This year also saw the re-emergence of women athletes. At the World Juniors, the girls equally contributed in the medal haul of six that Kenya won. The rivalry between Veronica Nyaruai and Pauline Korkwang saw them trade first positions twice in two global competitions. Korkwang already features in the world rankings for seniors in 27th position.

The best find remains Janeth Jepkosgei, winner of the 800 metres gold medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, who dipped under 2 minutes a record nine times to emerge first and the fastest in the IAAF rankings of the year with the best time of 1 minute 56.66 seconds. Edith Masai, a three time winner of the IAAF World half Marathon, is another Kenyan number one in her half marathon speciality.

Rita Jeptoo's victory in the Boston Marathon and Kenya's 500th victory in city marathon races set new parameters for distance running.

Daniel Kipchirchir (1,500m), Isaac Songok (3,000m) and Micah Kogo (10,000m) led the rankings in their respective distances.

If 2005 was the year Kenya prepared and won the bid to host the IAAF World cross-country Championships, 2006 was the planning stage. The new year will see the staging of the championships.

Preparations went a notch higher after organisers secured the Mombasa Golf Course, hotels and accommodation. The government as the main sponsor has also set aside money to improve facilities in Mombasa while Safaricom and East Africa Breweries have each committed Sh15 million for the championships being held in Africa for the third time in their 35th year.

It is obvious that the championships on March 24 will be a high profile affair and competition in weekend meetings has already shown Kenya team selection for Mombasa will be a very competitive affair.

Kenya, for the first time, had a road running calendar that guaranteed action each weekend in various parts of the country.

The season kicked off with the Kebirigo Grand Prix in Kisii in a three race series which produced Solomon Busiendich who went on to win Africa's richest road race in Nigeria.

Own road races

Retired and active athletes like Paul Tergat, Moses Tanui, Catherine Ndereba decided to give something back to sport by organising their own road races.

The Japanese connection ensured Kenya won the Chiba Ekiden for the second year while Martin Irungu Mathathi won Kenya a bronze medal in Fukuoka, Japan, in the long course race where Kenya reclaimed the team title lost two years ago.

Athletics Kenya opened the doors of its newly constructed museum where researchers will be able to trace the history of the sport which has earned Kenya international glory in the last four decades.

However with the good came the not so good.

Age cheating raised its head. Sports minister Kamanda exposed two runners - Emmanuel Chamer and Thomas Longosiwa - as suspects. John Yego of Bahrain was arrested in Kenya on suspicion of also having age cheated.

The year concluded with melodrama as former Kenyans now running for Qatar and Bahrain swept nearly all medals from the 800 metres to the marathon in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

They sent a strong signal that they would be more than willing to take on their former village mates and compatriots at the top level.

Apathy towards certain international competition by senior athletes was witnessed with the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But those who did national duty and won medals earned cash rewards from the government and went on to dominate international competition.

Finally the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon broke new barriers when over 20,000 people poured into the city streets for the annual event.