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The city government of Eldoret, Kenya, has removed statues of three athletes after they were widely ridiculed and described as an “embarrassing” and poorly done “joke”.
The statues were unveiled ahead of a ceremony to confer city status on Eldoret on Thursday.
However, local residents and Kenyan netizens said they bore little resemblance to the athletes they represented.
Eldoret is known as the “Home of Champions” because it is located in the heart of the Great Rift Valley and most of Kenya’s world-class athletes hail from here.
The statues were removed overnight before President William Ruto officially designated Eldoret as a city.
The town unveiled several works of art this week, including three statues of athletes and other monuments such as corn cobs and a milk fountain.
They are thought to represent the area’s sporting and agricultural heritage and are erected at various strategic roundabouts in the town.
But these artworks immediately attracted widespread criticism and became the subject of ridicule rather than the pride they should have inspired.
A Kenyan shared a photo A statue suspected to represent a female athlete, Faith Kipyegon, the 1500m world record holder, has attracted attention, and he said such works represent “our collective mediocrity as a country”.
“It’s a shame to call it the Faith Kipyegon statue,” Another Kenyan X explain.
Another X The user shared a statue of marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, calling it a “joke” and saying “whoever did this will not go to heaven”.
On Thursday morning, local media shared photos of an empty pedestal where the statue had stood.
County officials removed three statues, two representing female athletes and one representing a male athlete, on Wednesday night and moved them to an unknown location, a local journalist told the BBC.
Authorities have not yet said who the statues represent, but social media users said one was of Kipyegon and the other of Kipchoge.
But their depiction of the athletes has been described as “shameless”, “embarrassing” and “substandard”.
Kenyans online welcomed the removal of the statue. It is unclear if and when the statue will be replaced.
Ahead of the ceremony declaring Eldoret as Kenya’s fifth city, President Ruto received athletes who will win medals at the 2024 Olympics.
They were each given a monetary reward under a government scheme to motivate athletes to perform well.
Kenya was the highest-ranked African country at the Paris Olympics, ranking 17th in the medal table with four gold medals and a total of 11 medals.
Kipiyegun won the 1500m title in a new Olympic record of 3 minutes 51.29 seconds, becoming the first female athlete to win three consecutive gold medals in the event.
She also won a silver medal in the 5,000m.
However, due to a back injury, Kipchoge was forced to withdraw from the race and was unable to complete the marathon.
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