Human endeavours as they say can have no limits. What seems impossible once are easily attained or crossed over time and now the appropriate question is how much more can this be stretched. Perhaps the best area where this can be encountered is in sports and in particular athletics. The recent effort by the Kenyan Sebastian Sawe is a case in point. A seasoned marathon runner he became the first human officially to run the over 42 km distance under two hours to not just create a first but lift the spirits of sportspersons in general on how much one’s capabilities could be raised. We say officially because another Kenyan, considered a great marathoner, Eluid Kipchoge had broken the barrier in 2019 itself but his effort had come in an exhibition run and did not qualify as a record. What is notable is that experts believe the London course where Sawe achieved the feat was considered slower than Berlin and Chicago where a world record had never emerged since 2002. Who knows Sawe could just be the man to correct all that with even more splendid moments for the Kenyan believes that he could still run faster!

But the point here is not just his skill but as observers always believe, whether Sawe had a clean image to add lustre to the performance. Amid the spate of high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan athletes, Sawe was aware that he had to be extra careful to instil confidence........

© Mathrubhumi English