As they make final preparations for the Paris Olympics, Kenya’s star athletes have issued a call for action to prevent road traffic injury the number one killer of young people worldwide.

Ahead of the athletics programme of the Paris Games which is due to start on 2nd and 3rd August, Kenya’s athletes joined the FIA Foundation in ‘Streets for Life’ campaigning, calling for safe roads to protect everyone that uses the roads, and particularly the most vulnerable, around the world.

At their final training camp at high altitude in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, the world’s best marathon runners led the call for action ahead of the Olympics. The Kenyan marathon team had suffered tragedy earlier in 2024 during the build-up to the Olympics when world record holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash. He was just 24 years old and was a favourite for gold in Paris.

Over the years many Kenyan athletes have been injured or killed on the roads, but despite their suffering they are championing change. Across the Eldoret region where they train, they have led calls for safer roads and the Government has successfully implemented safe and separated pathways on the road network for runners and pedestrians.

Campaigning with the FIA Foundation before leaving for Paris, London Marathon champion and Olympian Alexander Mutiso Munyao said: “There have been too many cases where athletes have suffered. It is good to see safe paths for athletes to run, for people to walk safely and for children to get to school in safety.

“I support Streets for Life, I want there to be safer roads everywhere”

Munyao said that he always thinks of Kelvin Kiptum when he competes and he will run in honour of him in Paris.

Women’s marathon champions Sharon Lokedi and Peres Jepchirchir also joined the Streets for Life campaign. Speaking in Eldoret at the final training camp before the Olympics, Lokedi recounted how like Alexander Munyao she used to run to school. “It was the first time I had ever run, I used to run for several kilometers from my home to my classes,” she said. “This is how I started out, and it has led me to compete at the Olympics. I really want to see safer roads for all children, no one should have to suffer on the roads.”

FIA Foundation Deputy Director Avi Silverman said: “Kenya’s Olympic athletes have stepped up and issued a powerful call for safe, healthy streets. Where they train in the Eldoret Rift Valley region, they have helped ensure that there are safe separated paths not just for runners but the whole community. This is an incredibly effective action to prevent road traffic injury, encouraging all forms of active mobility including running. 

“We want policy makers all over the world to take note of these champions and the call to action that they are making around the Paris Olympics, and to respond. It is unacceptable that road traffic injury is the biggest killer of young people globally. As the athletes themselves have shown, it can and must be prevented. Let’s join them in calling for improved road safety and streets for life.”

 Visit the campaign at www.streetsforlife.org