Iten, Kenya's home of Champions

Popularly referred to as the home of champions, Iten town is revered as the gateway to greatness for both local and foreign athletes. A number of training camps have been set up in Iten to cater to the demand of the increasing number of athletes flocking the town.

"When we recruit the athletes, we tap the talent and first thing we normally do is see how educated they are and then when they are in the camp, we try to teach them how to run under the coaches. So, the athletes here do a lot when they are in the camp, they also learn how to stay with foreigners when they are abroad and how to invest".

Being a higher altitude area, Iten has fewer oxygen molecules per volume of air which enables athletes to build endurance hence record better performance.

"With one week of acclimatation with the altitude and two weeks of working, so we have been raising up the kilometres during all the weeks. I was thinking it was more difficult to train in high altitude but after one week of acclimatation, if you should know you need your pace and everything is like in France"

World Athletics awarded Iten town a Heritage Plaque In 2020 as a recognition for its contribution in the advancement of athletics in the world. The town doesn’t have world class facilities but the results posted by athletes who have trained there has made it the spiritual home of running.

"We have a lot of athletes who have already achieved in this camp because I have top 20 in the world and they are training in Iten".

Referred to as the spiritual land of training in athletics, Iten town has seen massive growth and development in ensuring that athletes achieve their goals. Ronald Agak for Africanews in Iten.