在2004年世界越野锦标赛上,埃塞俄比亚运动员贝克勒获得了成年男子12公里的冠军,这是自1986年以来肯尼亚首次丢掉该项目的冠军。丢掉这个冠军对肯尼亚来说意义重大,因此肯尼亚国内唯一的长跑杂志《运动员》将此次失利作为该杂志的封面。而且2003年的世界锦标赛、2004年雅典奥运会,肯尼亚的男子运动员都在10000米和马拉松比赛上与奖牌无缘。人们开始思考肯尼亚为什么在世界最高水平的赛事上失去了以往的统治力。经过多方的了解,人们发现肯尼亚田径协会的管理不善是导致肯尼亚长跑水平下降的一个重要原因。肯尼亚田径协会隶属于肯尼亚联邦政府,位于内罗毕,离卡普塔加特、艾尔德雷特、埃藤等训练中心约5小时车程,而这些训练中心是肯尼亚培养长跑名将的摇篮。奥康奈尔教练曾说,肯尼亚田协的一名官员大概七八年前来过这里的训练中心,但仅此而已。在肯尼亚期间,能切身感受到肯尼亚田协官员的冷漠。在翻看《国家》报纸时,奥康奈尔偶然看到了该报上刊登的高水平教练员会议的通知,他也在被邀之列,但 At the 2004 World Championships, Ethiopian athlete Becker won the 12-kilometer male adult championship, the first such race ever to be lost in Kenya since 1986. The loss of this title is very significant for Kenya, so Kenya's only long-distance run magazine “athlete” the loss as the cover of the magazine. And 2003 World Championships, 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Kenya's men's athletes missed the medal at the 10,000 meters and marathon. People are starting to wonder why Kenya lost its dominance at the highest level in the world. After much understanding, people find that the mismanagement of Kenyan Athletic Association is one of the important reasons leading to the decline of long-distance running in Kenya. The Kenyan Athletic Association, part of the Kenyan federal government, is located in Nairobi about 5 hours drive from training centers in Captaïc, Eldred, Eto and so on and these are the cradles for Kenya to nurture long-distance runners. Coach O'Connor once said that an officer of the Kenyan Yard Association came to the training center here about seven or eight years ago, but nothing more. In Kenya, I can feel the indifference of Kenyan officials in the field. When looking at the “national” newspaper, O'Connell stumbled upon the high-level trainer's notice printed in the newspaper, and he was also invited