Ezekiel Kemboi relives glory days at Kipchoge Keino Stadium

The two-time Olympic champion and multiple world title holder says Kipchoge Keino Stadium is more than just a sporting venue; it is where his journey began nearly three decades ago.

“Around 1998, I started running here when it was just a muddy ground with no proper stands. It has come a long way,” he recalls.

At its lowest point, Kemboi says, the stadium had lost its purpose as a sporting facility. Cattle would graze freely on the track, while sections of the field were used for farming activities.

Reflecting further, he notes a particularly striking period in the stadium’s decline.

“About 6–7 years ago, before this stadium was fitted with a tartan track, just across the road there was a slaughterhouse, so cattle used to come and graze on the field. At the same time, people would also use it for drying maize, sometimes in the afternoons when there were no training sessions.”

For him, the situation was unacceptable. “This is not just land. It is a sports facility,” he says firmly. “It should never have reached that level.”

Today, the once-neglected field is steadily transforming into a modern sporting arena with continental ambitions. But for Kemboi, the change carries deep personal meaning.

His memories stretch back to his earliest competitions, including his barefoot run at Kitale Kenyatta Stadium in 1998, a reminder of how far Kenyan athletics has come and the struggles it has overcome.

The stadium’s troubled history is also marked by years of stalled redevelopment. In 2007, following the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, then President Mwai Kibaki pledged funding for its upgrade. The promise, however, was never fully realised.

Years later, during the 2016 Rio Olympic trials, Kemboi says athletes were still forced to train and compete under poor conditions, including sharing a single toilet for both men and women.

Now, the narrative is shifting. The government has embarked on a major rehabilitation and upgrade of the stadium to meet the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards as part of preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Works began on May 1, 2025, under a 20-month contract running to December 2026. The project is currently 37 per cent complete.

The upgrade includes the conversion of earth terraces into concrete grandstands, expansion of seating capacity from 9,248 to 15,671, installation of a canopy roof, a tartan athletics track, and an improved pitch.

Lieutenant Philip Itobi, Resident Engineer from the Ministry of Defence, says the objective is to modernise the facility for both athletics and football.

“The overall progress stands at 37 per cent. We are also adding VIP facilities and improving the track and pitch,” he notes.

Kemboi says the steady pace of work is reassuring. “When I see work going on consistently, I know this time it will be different,” he says, adding that the presence of the Kenya Defence Forces on site gives him confidence. “When I arrived here and met KDF personnel, I knew it would be completed.”

As the stadium rises again in the City of Champions, so too does the memory of where it all began, for Kemboi and for Kenyan athletics.