Kenya's Olympic hopefuls forced to choose between training and survival

· Elite athletes targeted in post-election violence
· Attacks and threats force runners to stay at home
Dozens of Kenya's top athletes, including Olympic hopefuls, are unable to train properly and are living in fear for their lives as violence convulses the Rift Valley, home of world distance running, in the wake of last month's disputed elections.

Elite runners told the Guardian they had been forced to cut training after receiving death threats and being accused of fomenting post-election violence. Two athletes, including Lucas Sang, a former Olympic 400m runner, have been killed. The impact on runners' daily schedules has left some concerned that they will struggle at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in March and at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Ezekiel Kemboi, the reigning Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion, said yesterday that he was training only once a day instead of the usual three times. "You can't run here now unless it's fully light," he said. "I know my chances of Olympic success are going down, but I have seen the cuts on Lucas Sang's body."

His coach, Moses Kiptanui, regarded as the greatest steeplechaser ever, told the Guardian that he was warned by police that he could be killed at any time. Security officers last week accused him of transporting petrol to burn down houses, and of ferrying guns and bows and arrows to gangs of Kalenjin youths targeting people from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group.

With 56 other past and present runners, including Kemboi and Evans Rutto, winner of the 2004 London marathon, Kiptanui signed a statement dismissing the allegations and complaining of being trailed by security agents. "I am scared," said Kiptanui. "The police are armed; they know me and they know where I live."

The area around Eldoret, whose 2,000-metre-plus altitude and cool temperatures are ideal for training, has seen the worst of the ethnic clashes since Kibaki's re-election win was announced on December 30. Yesterday more fighting erupted in western Kenya, as groups attacked each other with machetes and bows and arrows.

The area has historically been occupied by Kalenjins but Kikuyus, favoured by Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, bought up land vacated by white settlers at independence. Resentment has simmered for decades. Most Kalenjins in the Rift Valley supported opposition candidate Raila Odinga in last month's election.

Kiptanui, 37, was on his farm outside Eldoret in the first week of January when he first heard rumours that elite athletes, most of whom are Kalenjin, were being accused of fuelling the violence that chased thousands of Kikuyus from their homes and saw hundreds murdered. He suspected the athletes were being singled out because of their wealth - overseas race winnings have allowed many runners to buy farms and erect office blocks in Eldoret town. "Because we have money and move between training camps some people must have assumed that we funded the violence and give lifts to the gangs," Kiptanui said. "They may also think that we are ones who can afford to buy the land of those chased way."

Sang, who became a large-scale farmer, was killed in an apparent revenge attack on Kalenjins late last month. The same day Luke Kibet, the world marathon champion, was hit on the head by a rock, and only his fast legs saved him from an approaching mob.

Then, a week ago, Kiptanui says his driver was pulled over by three policemen. They asked where Kiptanui was, and warned that both of them could be killed for their alleged role in the violence. Accompanied by lawyers the next morning, Kiptanui recorded a complaint with the police, and was assured that he was not suspected of any crime, and that the officers would be questioned. But yesterday he was told that the policemen concerned had still not recorded statements.

Other athletes have had similar experiences. William Mutwol, bronze medallist at the 1992 Olympics, received a text message saying his "head would be turned into soup". On Tuesday Wesley Ngetich, 34, a marathon runner, was killed by a poisoned arrow.

The attacks and allegations have caused deep anger. Moses Tanui, twice the Boston marathon winner, said: "As runners we always represent the country as Kenyans, not Kalenjins. We are the ones that helped earn Kenya's good reputation worldwide, so why are we being targeted this way?"

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