HUSS’s Professor Zsolt Radák conducted a professional training course in Kenya, the homeland of the world’s most renowned long-distance runners, where he also met Patrick Sang, the Olympic silver medallist coach and mentor of Eliud Kipchoge. The visit also marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the university and the Kenya Academy of Sport.
What connects Professor Zsolt Radák, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation at Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS), Kenyan Patrick Sang — silver medallist in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Barcelona Olympics — and Eliud Kipchoge, the two-time Olympic marathon champion who became the first person to complete the 42-kilometer marathon distance in under two hours?
Here is the answer. Dr Lilla Török, research fellow at the Department of Psychology and Sport Psychology and Zsolt Radák participated in a one-week coaching education programme in Kenya organized by the Kenya Academy of Sport (KAS), alongside several other international lecturers. The HUSS delegation was invited by the organizers thanks to the mediation of Ben Ouma, Professor Radák’s PhD student and an outstanding coach working with Kenya’s national runners.
Among the participants attending the course as students was Patrick Sang, who won silver in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Barcelona Olympic Games and later became — and remains to this day — a coach helping prepare Kenyan runners, including Eliud Kipchoge, the two-time Olympic champion long-distance runner who first broke the two-hour marathon barrier in Vienna in 2019.
“Lilla and I found ourselves among an incredibly cheerful, optimistic, and curious group of people,” recalled Zsolt Radák, explaining that the course consisted of a four-day coaching programme and a three-day researcher training session. “It was inspiring to see Kenyan coaches from various sports — all speaking at least three languages — driven by an unshakable desire to keep learning and expanding their knowledge, including accomplished professionals such as Patrick Sang. I must add that I came to know Patrick Sang as an exceptionally intelligent expert, eager for knowledge and personal development.”
Speaking of Kipchoge, Radák also revealed that during the event, the international summit Africa Forward! was taking place in Nairobi, jointly organized by Kenya and France. French President Emmanuel Macron attended the summit and seized the opportunity to invite Kipchoge for an early morning jog.
Zsolt Radák also announced that HUSS has entered into a long-term cooperation agreement with the Kenya Academy of Sport, which could bring numerous positive outcomes in the field of sports science for the university. One major benefit could be gaining a better understanding of how the knowledge behind endurance development can be adapted and applied to other sports disciplines.
Naturally, this also raised the question of the secret behind Kenyan runners and the famous “Kenyan miracle.”
“In short: we don’t know. There is no clear answer, although many studies have already investigated the issue. So far, researchers have found no significant differences between European and Kenyan runners in any parameter or marker — whether muscle composition or physiology. Our plan is to join one or two studies connected to Ben’s PhD dissertation, which may help us get closer to the solution,” said Zsolt Radák.
