Kenyan runner David Kapaiko once trained barefoot at school while balancing lessons with herding his father’s cattle. Now the 16-year-old is preparing to race in the 800 metres at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, with his sights set on gold and a faster personal best.
David Kapaiko will be among the young athletes flying Kenya’s flag at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
At the Youth Olympics, Kenya has won 15 medals—eight gold, three silver and four bronze—all of them in athletics. Kapaiko hopes to add to that tally in Dakar.
The 16-year-old heads to the Games with a growing list of achievements. In 2025, Kapaiko won gold in the 1,500 metres at both the Africa School Games and Africa Youth Games. He won another gold at the Under-18 Eastern Africa Athletics Regional Championships.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
This year, Kapaiko defended his Africa Youth Games title and went global, claiming silver in the 1,500 metres at the 2026 World U20 Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“We are sharpening his speed and endurance,” Kapaiko’s coach, Edcain Mutua, says. “We are training in the sun and at high altitude to boost his hemoglobin levels so that he does not struggle with the conditions in Dakar.”
“We now train three times a day and I am sure he will deliver gold in Senegal,” he adds.
Kapaiko has travelled a difficult road to reach this level. Three years ago, he was a village boy in Kajiado, a county in Kenya’s Rift Valley that borders the capital, Nairobi.
At the time, he was juggling school, an athletics career in its infancy and herding his father’s cattle.
“I did not have someone to help me before I met my coach,” Kapaiko recalls. “There was one teacher who understood athletics but did not have any contacts in the sport. I was training barefoot in school as he encouraged me.”
The young athlete got his break when Mutua attended an athletics event in which he was competing.
“He was running and winning every race but not getting tired. I got his parent’s contacts and reached out to them. They agreed to let me coach him,” says Mutua.
The coach enrolled Kapaiko at his Emali Athletics Camp, where the youngster began receiving structured training.
There was a challenge, however. Emali is 71 kilometres from Kapaiko’s village, and he could only train on certain days because he was still in school. Coming from a family of modest means, transport costs to the camp were a headache.
“He was trekking 17km to school and on several occasions, I paid for his transport to the camp,” Mutua says.
The coach then found a school near the camp and arranged for Kapaiko to transfer, sparing him the long walks and allowing him to focus on his education and athletics.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
From there, Kapaiko’s form improved. He won school competitions before attracting the attention of national team selectors.
Going international has changed his family’s fortunes. He received a Ksh1.5 million (US$11,571) reward from the Kenyan government after winning silver at the U20 championships.
“Athletics has changed our family tremendously,” he says. “Drought had wiped out my father’s cattle but now, I have bought him more. I am also building a house for my parents and we sleep on good beds, something we never had.”
Kapaiko’s aim in Dakar is not just to win gold. He will compete in the 800 metres and wants to improve his time.
“We have set him a target of between 1:45 and 1:46,” says Mutua. Kapaiko’s 800-metre personal best is 1:50.21.
To prepare, the young runner has been studying one of Kenya’s greats.
“He has been watching David Rudisha’s clips from when he broke the 800m world record at the 2012 Olympics to see what he clocked in the first and final laps, how he kicked before he broke the record, how he balanced his pace and what his endurance was like,” Mutua says.
For Kapaiko, the Youth Olympics are a stepping stone to bigger things. With the 2027 World Athletics Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics ahead, he needs little motivation as he prepares to race in Dakar.
