{UAH} I’m still too young to live like a millionaire - Life - monitor.co.ug

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I'm still too young to live like a millionaire - Life

Kiprotich during the interview. photo by FAISWAL KASIRYE 

In Summary

Humble. Many things have changed in his life, but Stephen Kiprotich remains a simple man, lives in a humble Prison officers house and jumps on a boda boda wtih ease. He is still quiet and joyful just like he was in secondary school more than a decade ago.

Fortune came his way when in the 2012 Olympics Marathon, Stephen Kiprotich dazzled in London streets, winning the first Olympic gold medal for Uganda after 40 years. He would in the subsequent days get donations and prizes for the feat.

Again this year, more fortune rained on the 24-year-old Kapchorwa-born boy when he produced a stunning and skillful win in the recently concluded World Athletics championship in Moscow, Russia, to win his second gold medal in a space of one year. Like last year, donations, feasts, and prizes have poured his way. He is now "Kiprorich," the word coinage from his name Kiprotich and rich.

His official Prisons house in Luzira is tiled and from the look of it, it was recently renovated. In the sitting room, a 32-inch Startimes plasma screen sits on a cream wooden table just next to the door. A few chairs and a dining table at the farther side fill up the athlete's sitting room. On the wall, there are several frames and portraits of him. But what does the hero say about his life.

"So many things have changed. I used to receive about only two calls per day. But now (points to the table where his phone was charging from) I get a call every other minute; but I like them. I love to speak to people. I still talk to all the people I knew and even the new ones," Kiprotich says at his Prisons house.

Indeed throughout the interview, he frequently excused himself to answer a call, attend to visitors and would also borrow my pen and paper to write down a name or instruction from the other side of the phone.

When asked about the financial bit, the golden Kip quickly responds. "I have my attention on my career. I am still young and I am looking forward to winning more medals. The time for money is not now. When I feel I have achieved enough is when I will concentrate on using the money."

The marathoner says someone else is in fact managing his finances, adding that money destructs and other people supervise how it is kept. But when asked who keeps his money, which according to media reports is in hundreds of millions, the slender dark skinned athlete bursts into laughter, and tapping me, says:,"Do you want people to kill that person? I will not tell you."

So does that explain why Kiprotich, when in Kapchorwa still prefers boda bodas to rush him to Cheptilyal village? The runner pauses on this, before saying, "people should know that I own a motorcycle which works as a boda boda to fetch income for my family when I'm not at home." He also says he has a double cabin pick-up track which he uses occasionally when at home.

When nudged further on how he could not be touching his money yet he needs money to run other errands, the marathon king, hesitantly, reveals that State House gives all athletes who have excelled beyond Africa Shs1 million per month to facilitate their training. And that, with his salary, keeps Kip running.

When he returned from Moscow two weeks ago, he was reportedly booked into a top hotel in Kampala, but Kiprotich preferred to spend his night at his house in Luzira prison.
He explains that the last time he slept in the hotel, he was inconvenienced by the flood of visitors, which did not give him enough time to rest.

"You see, prisons have a tighter security. Not everyone comes anyhow. I can afford to have enough rest and do things privately," he says. 
So how does the father and prisons officer balance his time?
"I have time for everything. When there is no major competition, I come and do my work at prisons. For my family, it is quite private but when the training schedule is not packed, I give my family like one month and in most cases, I come home (from Kenya) at the weekends," Kiprotich explains.
He says in between trainings, he also takes time to be with his family.

Winning tips
When asked why he zigzagged on the home stretch to beat Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa, the golden boy says like a footballer, he also has tactics.

Posho is still my main meal
To run for more than 40kms is no easy feat. You must have the endurance and must be feeding well. 
"I normally have breakfast of milk tea, bread and chapatti at times. For my lunch and supper, I eat posho, rice, greens and beans but posho is my main dish," he says. 
He, however, does eat other things when he moves to towns or out of the training camp.

Photogenic star
After the interview, the jolly athlete takes my photographer, Faiswal Kasirye' and I to the car which State House acquired for him. He turns on the car radio and opens all the four doors before igniting the engine. His broad smile when he sits in the car

The golden boy's week in summary
Monday
I wake up at 5am to prepare my training shift. I start training at 6am for about an hour and then return to prepare my breakfast. I then relax until lunch and in the evening I do light jogging. I sleep between 9pm and 10pm.

I'm still too young to live like a millionaire - Life

Kiprotich during the interview. photo by FAISWAL KASIRYE 

In Summary

Humble. Many things have changed in his life, but Stephen Kiprotich remains a simple man, lives in a humble Prison officers house and jumps on a boda boda wtih ease. He is still quiet and joyful just like he was in secondary school more than a decade ago.

Tuesday
I wake up between 5am and 5:30am. I go for morning running, and return to have breakfast. I usually prepare it myself. From 8am to 9am, I go back to training. This is majorly road work and speed work on the truck. I then rest and have lunch.
At 4pm, I run for an hour and from 6pm, I prepare my supper. I go to bed between 9pm and 10pm.

Wednesday
I wake up at 6am. I run for an hour on the road and at 7am return to do personal work like cleaning and making breakfast. I finish everything at 9am. The rest of the time is for chatting with friends and encouraging others. There is no training in the evening.

Thursday
I wake up at 4am, shower, dress up and start the vehicle. I then set out to collect my colleagues at about 4:30am. We drive out of the camp to a different training ground. I then meet my coaches and receive instructions from them. It is after this that we run for 40 kilometres for two hours. This is done once every two weeks. The rest of the days are for endurance training.

Friday
I wake up at 6am then run for an hour and 10 minutes. This is because on Thursday, we would have done a lot of work. I then go back to the camp and have breakfast. After that, I rest and meet friends for a chat. We then prepare for lunch as usual at 2pm.
From 3pm to 4pm, some people go for walks, but I go to run. In the evening, it is usually news time, super and sleep.

Saturday
I wake up at 6:30am, we start running on the road. We do intervals on speedwork, like after every 400 metres. This can go up to between 10 and 15 sets. After that, some people take weekend breaks. For me, home is far, so I rarely get out of the camp.

Sunday
I do my training at 6am. Being a Catholic, I go for prayers for an hour. I return home, have breakfast, and rest.

achekwech.ug@nationmedia.com

I'm still too young to live like a millionaire - Life - monitor.co.ug
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Life/I+m+still+too+young+to+live+like+a+millionaire/-/689856/1974786/-/item/1/-/873ndoz/-/index.html

I'm still too young to live like a millionaire - Life - monitor.co.ug
http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Life/I+m+still+too+young+to+live+like+a+millionaire/-/689856/1974786/-/o0oiv5/-/index.html