The late Naftali Temu delivered Kenya’s first-ever Olympic Games gold medal in fantastic fashion.
At the 10,000m race held in Mexico in 1968, the Nyamira-born long-distance runner was not eager to sprint to the frontline.
He ran a well-calculated race, leaving other runners to dictate the pace, before slowly moving to the front at the final stages.
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Ethiopian runner Degaga “Mamo” Wolde was in control for most of the race. However, in the final lap, Temu took matters into his own hands.
With 50m remaining to the finishing line, he stepped on the gas and went on to bag the coveted title in 29:27.4.
Wolde settled for a second-place finish in 29:28.0 ahead of Tunisia’s Mohamed Gammoudi, who clocked 29:34.2.
Australian athlete Ron Clarke, the then-world record holder, registered a sixth-place position in the high altitude conditions.
Temu’s teammate Kipchoge Keino did not finish the race after collapsing in the second lap.
The doctors had warned Keino against competing in the 10,000m final, but he ignored the advice.
Some of the other titles that Temu won in his career include a 5,000m silver and bronze medals at the 1965 All-Africa Games and Mexico Olympic Games respectively.
After the 1968 Olympic Games, Temu struggled to find form and eventually retired in 1973.
He died in 2003 aged 58 after losing the battle against prostate cancer at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The government settled his hospital bill which had accumulated to a whopping Ksh50,000.