Abstract
In this article I examine the sport media representations throughout the career of now retired Kenyan distance runner Tegla Loroupe. As part of a larger project to examine media representation of African athletes, Loroupe was chosen because of her preeminence as a marathon runner and place as one of the first female runners from Kenya to achieve international success. While Kenyan and African men have been examined and discussed at length and in various ways for their continued superiority in distance running, there is a lack of such research concerning African women. Thus it is the concern of this article to illuminate the kinds of discourses and representations surrounding Loroupe, specifically as they pertain to women in sport, Kenyans and Africans in sport, and the representation of Africa in Western media. Using the methodology for reading sport critically (McDonald and Birrell, 1999) and drawing upon elements of discourse analysis, this article finds and discusses the complex intersections of gender, race, and nationality as they converge upon Loroupe through her media representation.
The participation of women in sport has historically been a point of controversy throughout the sporting world, fraught with implications for gender, sex, and sexuality. Over time, as women have gained more access to sport, research in this area has seen the negative connotations and beliefs concerning the female body in sport decline. Still, the complete picture of women in sport remains complicated because boundaries regarding the female body and physical activity are ever shifting and negotiated. The majority of the research found on this topic in research journals tends to be Western-centric, meaning that the subjects and analyses tend to focus on the issues and women of ‘developed’ nations, not those located in what are considered ‘developing’ nations. I would argue that the reasons for this are surely more complicated than a developed versus developing debate, but, nonetheless, there is a lack of research focusing on women in sport from developing nations either within or outside their home countries.
The focus of this article is Tegla Loroupe, a Kenyan from the West Pokot district in the Rift Valley province of North-West Kenya. The Pokot are one of the ethnic groups that can be considered to make up the Kalenjin, the larger ethnic group out of which many of Kenya’s famous runners are a part. The degree to which the Kalenjin have earned an international reputation as distance runners is important not only to Loroupe’s framing as a runner, but to the representation of the Kalenjin and Pokot as specific ethnic groups inside Kenya. Loroupe’s distinguished international career began with her victory at the New York City Marathon in 1994 and continues today through her work in her peace foundation. Throughout her running career Loroupe achieved numerous accomplishments, including: Goodwill Games 10 km (1994 and 1998), IAAF World Championships 10 km (3rd in 1995 and 1999), New York City Marathon (1994, 1995, and 3rd in 1998), Rotterdam Marathon (three-time winner 1997–1999), Berlin Marathon (1999, 2nd in 2001), Lisbon Half Marathon (six-time winner 1994–1997, 1999, and 2000), London Marathon (2000), Cologne Marathon (2003), Hong Kong Half Marathon (2006). Other successes include three consecutive world titles in the half-marathon (1997–1999), world records in the 20 km, 25 km, and 30 km, past world record holder in the marathon, past world record for one-hour distance (18,340 m), and she recently finished eighth in the New York City Marathon (2007) (http://www.teglaloroupepeacefoundation.org).
Additionally, in 2006 Loroupe was named a United Nations Ambassador for Sport along with other prominent athletes such as Roger Federer, Elias Figueroa, and Katrina Webb. Loroupe holds a similar position, International Sports Ambassador, with the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). In 2003 Loroupe started the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation with the goal to curb violence between pastoralist groups in Rift Valley province of Kenya and bordering countries of Uganda and Sudan; the foundation holds Peace Marathons and has started the Tegla Loroupe Peace Academy (school and orphanage) to help further achieve that goal. Loroupe was and is an established and respected runner who has transitioned that success into her humanitarian peace organizations.
Literature review
The emergence and success of East African, specifically Kenyan, distance runners has fueled much debate over the years because of their relative dominance of the sport. While there has been a plethora of research done on the physiology, sociology and anthropology of these runners, that research has focused primarily on men and little has been done regarding how these runners have been perceived by Western media outlets. This article is concerned with such gaps in the research because Loroupe intersects with three main lines of power: 1) nationality, 2) race, and 3) gender. The complex interaction of these lines of power over the career of Loroupe is what this article hopes to untangle and the following literature review begins that process.
Bale and Sang’s (1996) book on Kenyan running is a detailed look at the then current state and history of running in Kenya. Through addressing the colonial history and ‘modernization’ of running in Kenya from pre-colonial sport, Bale and Sang show us how exactly Kenya came to be known for running prowess. Specifically, the use of sport by the British as a means of social control, a colonialization of the body, which sought not only to eliminate traditional and cultural forms of sport but replace them with British sport forms and values. The British certainly did not ‘make’ the Kenyan athlete, but there is a colonial aspect, among others, that do not receive full acknowledgement, if any, in popular discourse. Additionally, Bale and Sang (1996) reveal the creation of genetic, cultural, and environmental determinism in regard to Kenyan runners which was evident during colonialism but became more pronounced after the 1968 Mexico Olympics, where Kenyans won 11 medals in six events (Bale and Sang, 1996). Importantly, Bale and Sang focus almost exclusively on men but not without cause. There is mention of Loroupe and several other women that were just beginning to have success at the international level during the time the book was written. However, as Bale and Sang mention, women had difficulty accessing sport in Kenyan, more specifically in the Rift Valley, culture due to sport’s framing as a male activity and the relegation of women to traditional domestic activities (Bale and Sang, 1996).
Further, research using media sources to uncover the representation of athletes from colonized populations have had similar findings in many respects. Often, there is a romanticizing of the individual, what Nauright and Magdalinski call the ‘noble athlete’. This concept points to representations of these athletes as simple, exotic, natural, and primitive, the embodiment of sporting innocence (Nauright and Magdalinski, 2003). In addition, attention is often drawn to their smiles or youthfulness in some way, serving to infantilize and, for women especially, marginalize the significance of their achievements. In the case of Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, Denison and Markula (2005) discuss his positioning as an in situ object by Western media in press conferences, whereby Gebrselassie comes to represent and speak for all of Ethiopia. Any resistive capacity Gebrselassie may have used to mold his own image was thwarted by the questions asked by Western media which served ‘their’ interests, not his (Denison and Markula, 2005). Similarly, in studies concerning the media representation of Cathy Freeman, researchers have found that Australian media sought to frame her as the ‘ideal’ aboriginal athlete. Thus she was described as non-threatening, attractive, and infantilized, even when she spoke out on indigenous political issues (Gardiner, 2003; Wensing and Bruce, 2003).
The research concerning Freeman is again useful to illustrate some of the changes in media representation of female athletes. Historically, discourses regarding the bodies and potential of women have sought to keep women out of sport. Often these discourses rely on erroneous biological assumptions about women’s physiological capabilities, downplaying the accomplishments of women, infantilizing, and questioning (when not sexualizing) the sexuality and sex of women who transcend the ‘boundaries’ of female capabilities (Cooky et al., 2010; Crolley and Teso; 2007; Kissling, 1999; Messner, 2002). However, Wensing and Bruce (2003) note the contradictory nature of female athletic representation as they find Freeman described as a powerful and capable athlete in some media descriptions and as a youthful exuberant girl belonging to the country in others. Likewise, Walton (2010) finds varying levels of acceptance within the British media towards British marathoner Paula Radcliffe as a representative of nation based on her performances. The contradictory nature of these representations as they apply to Freeman, Radcliffe, and Loroupe, is not limited to gender but also intertwines with representations of race and nation.
Third, inherent within this subject matter are stereotypes of race as they pertain to athletic ability. Representations of race are intertwined with those of gender and nationality. This is another topic which has been prominently studied, but not in this exact context. The colonial need to essentialize the colonial body as something different from the European body leads us to racist explanations for Black athletic success (Bale and Sang, 1996). The research on this topic is vast so I will confine it to a brief summary. Thus, the emergence and dominance of East African, specifically Kenyan/Kalenjin, distance runners is often seen as further proof of genetic superiority of Black athletes. While some research has shown that people already make this link, how it relates to a dominant Black African female athlete remains to be seen. Walton and Butryn (2006) found there was resentment by White athletes and fans of Kenyan runners because of their entrance into a previously ‘White’ distance running space. Often, this resentment saw the creation of a ‘Great White Hope’ and accusations against African runners of doping (Walton and Butryn, 2006). Walton and Butryn (2006) found resentment of African athletes not only on internet message boards but also in other areas such as media coverage and in the organization of races themselves (concerning structure and prize money). I was primarily interested, then, in the mediation concerning Loroupe entering a previously ‘White female’ distance running space in the mid-1990s and if there is any backlash against her on the basis of race as genetic superiority.
Because of the developing versus developed dichotomy, I was also interested in how Loroupe navigated these constructions, not only as a Black woman competing in mainly Western societies but as a woman coming from Kenyan/Kalenjin/Pokot society as well. Previous research shows an increasing acceptance of female athletes in Western societies, or at least to allowing women to play, but Loroupe comes from a more paternalistic society (Kalenjin) and emerged on the distance running scene, in the early 1990s, when women in general had greater struggles to gain access to elite training. To this end, Loroupe’s actions, whether resistive or apologetic, are relevant. Though the methodology and procedure I use in this article inherently mediates any resistance Loroupe offers, it is still important to analyze any resistance Loroupe enacted, mediated or not.
Methodology
The purpose of this article is to discover, understand, and explain the kinds of discourses and representations surrounding Tegla Loroupe throughout her career. For that purpose, this article borrows from discourse analysis and discourse theory in order to question how events become meaningful (Phillips and Jørgensen, 2002; Schram, 2006). Discourse analysis is a broad methodological approach to research, employing many varying methods or techniques to analyze discourse, whether it is in conversational, textual, or any other form. Discourse refers to ‘a particular way of talking about or understanding the world (or an aspect of the world)’ (Phillips and Jørgensen, 2002: 1). The concept of discourse developed within linguistics and referred to interconnected writings and speech. However, it was philosopher Michel Foucault who advanced the discourse concept to entail language and practice (Hall, 2007a). Foucault saw discourse not only as a representation of knowledge, but as the production of knowledge (meaning) through language, and since meaning influences individual practices (actions), all social practices have a discursive aspect; that is, help reinforce and create specific modes of thinking (Hall, 2007a). This view of discourse relates strongly to Phillips and Jørgensen’s (2002) explanation that one’s access to and experience of reality is primarily mediated through language, meaning that language, and the inherent creation of discourses through language, results in both one’s creation and understanding of the social world. Assumed is that these discourses may influence readers’ understanding and subsequent actions regarding race, gender, nationality, and other markers of social inequality. A further premise of this kind of research and analysis is that individual texts do not carry meaning on their own, that is, texts draw, accumulate, and create meaning from a variety of other texts (Hall, 2007b). The process of accumulating meaning, or the selective use of familiar discourses, across texts and reading within the context of other texts results in an intertextuality from which hegemonic discourses emerge (Hall, 2007b; Wood and Kroger, 2000).
Further, this scholarship leans upon the methodology for reading sport critically as outlined by McDonald and Birrell (1999). In their article, McDonald and Birrell argue for a specific form of cultural criticism, ‘one that focuses analytical attention on specific sporting incidents and personalities and uses them to reveal a nexus of power that helps produce their meanings’ (pp. 283–284). While mainstream media often focuses on or gives primacy to one line of power, such as race, while ignoring or denying others, such as gender, sexuality, nationality, etc., the methodology for reading sport critically seeks to uncover the various lines of power as they intersect around a particular incident or celebrity figure. Thus, while this article speaks in terms of race, gender, nationality, etc., it is a Foucauldian (1980) notion of power, a power that is relational, diffuse, and can be used strategically throughout society, repressive yet also productive, that lies underneath. In addition, a Gramscian notion of power is also important to this methodology, especially as it concerns how some ideologies or discourses become dominant and act as ‘common sense’ (McDonald and Birrell, 1999: 288) within a society. It is the union of these two notions of power that allows for the examination and understanding of the lines of power that are privileged in the discourse surrounding Loroupe. This union also allows for the possibility of Loroupe’s (counter or resistive) discourse within a larger hegemonic framework. Perhaps most important within this methodology is the call to create counter-narratives, narratives ‘infused with resistant political possibilities’ (p. 295), because narratives ultimately have material consequences through their ideological work (McDonald and Birrell, 1999). Combined with ideas borrowed from discourse analysis and theory, this article excavates the lines of power that follow Loroupe throughout her career and poses counter-narratives to the hegemonic representations that surround her. To do this, articles from newspapers and magazines were gathered from the online news databases Factiva and LexisNexis. This method of gathering data yielded a wide variety of media concerning Loroupe, both in type and location, throughout her career.
Procedure
Loroupe and the representations of her presented in this article are only possible representations of all African/Kenyan/Kalenjin/Pokot athletes as no one athlete encompasses all or a standard set of representations regarding African athletes as a whole. This kind of sampling represents a mix between what Mason (2002) calls sampling strategically and sampling illustratively/evocatively. Sampling strategically means that this article selected Loroupe not to represent the ‘wider universe’, or all Africans in sport, but to capture a ‘relevant range’ in relation to the wider universe. Similarly, sampling illustratively means that the meaningful data sources selected for this article have the possibility of representing the wider universe, but yet this article can make no claim on how well the data represent said universe.
What this article does provide then, is a glimpse into one reality within the larger universe of Western sport media constructions of African athletes involved in professional sport in the US and Western societies (Mason, 2002). Though not uncomplicated, the ‘West’ in this article refers to the dominant majority-white owned, and largely concentrated, media structure in the United States and Western Europe (see Andrews, 2004). Through (post-) colonial discourses that frame and homogenize the perception of athletes from Africa, or Kenya, or Pokot as ‘others’, or non-Western, Western media inherently defines itself as Western (this line of thinking is taken from Mohanty’s [1995] writings on Western feminism). Where necessary, attention will be drawn to the media in specific countries. Similarly, I fully recognize the complexity of the African continent; any references to Africa as a whole are made for the sake of readability, as are any references to the ‘media’, which refers to Western media. That being said, I chose Loroupe for her success and popularity (leading to greater media interest) in international distance running.
To collect data for this article, I relied on media outlets whose work exists within the Factiva and LexisNexis news databases. These databases were chosen because they contain newspaper and magazine articles from major US and European outlets, and subsequently allowed for delimiting news searches based on these regions. The European news outlets were especially important in the analysis of Loroupe, as many of her races were in Western Europe. To generate sources search terms were set to the athlete’s name in the lead paragraph. The lead paragraph delimitation was used to ensure that the articles would be about the athlete in question, return more results than searches of the athlete name in the title, and not just include a random mention of the athlete. After those search terms were set, nearly a thousand articles (996) were returned by the search and most articles that were generated were selected for reading. Articles which were not read out of the returned results were excluded because they did not contain relevant information, such as race results, or they were repeat articles. With the number of articles generated and most articles being read, data saturation (Mason, 2002), a point where little new data are being generated, was sufficiently satisfied.
After the dataset was produced I read and re-read and analyzed each article based on the research questions, specifically, how is Loroupe constructed, how is her status as a Kenyan framed, how is her gender is constructed, what influences media constructions, and how, if at all, did Loroupe exercise individual agency towards shaping either her representation or that of Kenya’s? These questions helped to guide and further delineate the article, keeping it within reasonable bounds of analysis. Individual codes or meaning units (Schram, 2006) were organized and re-organized into themes around recurrent discourses. The emergent themes from this work are termed ‘Amazing Athlete or Untethered Mote?’, ‘Dominant Kenyan’, and ‘Resistive Athlete’. As with any research of this kind, the themes serve simply as a way to grasp some of the dominant power lines present, but they do not exist in isolation. This article will draw links between the themes throughout.
Findings
Through the research process three dominant themes emerged around Loroupe: Amazing Athlete or Untethered Mote?, Dominant Kenyan, and Resistive Athlete. I begin with the theme of Amazing Athlete or Untethered Mote? This theme emerged through media references to Loroupe’s gender and sex as they pertained to her bodily performance and athletic ability in races. The theme, by having two parts, emerges out of the contradictory media accounts detailing her racing performances as a woman, similar to those of Cathy Freeman discussed in the literature review. As I will show, Loroupe is both represented as a transcendent talent and in stereotypical manner for a female athlete. Next, I move to the Dominant Kenyan theme, which examines Loroupe’s media representation as a Kenyan distance runner. This theme is influenced by and arises out of the relative historical dominance of Kenyan (male) distance runners and the stereotypical discourses surrounding those achievements. Lastly, the Resistive Athlete theme focuses on Loroupe’s seemingly resistive moments as portrayed by the media throughout her career. It discusses the Western media representation of Loroupe’s words, which are often portrayed as resistive to ‘Kenyan’ culture.
Amazing Athlete or Untethered Mote?
Amazing Athlete
The Amazing Athlete subtheme emerged through media references to Loroupe’s gender and sex as they pertained to her performance in races. The term comes from the general feeling of awe, surprise, and praise at what Loroupe was able to accomplish during her career. Amazing Athlete represents the profuse praise she receives, much of which is presented as gender-less, while the Untethered Mote subtheme represents the more hegemonic framings of her body, sex, and capabilities as a woman.
The Amazing Athlete, which presents Loroupe as an elite athlete, is more prevalent during the middle to late parts of Loroupe’s career, presumably once she was established as an elite runner. Because this theme exists within a sea of more stereotypical representations, sometimes even within the same news article, the genuine nature of such descriptors must be questioned. The following quotes, while not always completely separate from gender, display Loroupe’s ‘Amazing Athlete’ abilities. ‘Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, the hardest working woman or man in road racing, is back to normal. . . She’s racing at a rate that astounds other runners . . .’ (Patrick, 2000); ‘In the end, she did not win a medal, but she did further the legend of her unbreakable will’ (Roberts, 2000); ‘The Kenyan, who won the Flora London Marathon last Sunday, is one of the world’s most amazing athletes’ (Woods, 2000); ‘She also won the world half marathon title seven days after having won a marathon. Mortals normally ease off for weeks’ (Gillon, 2000).
These examples elevate Loroupe above common gender assumptions, and even beyond what is believed capable for mortal humans. The focus on her overwhelming abilities and determination construct Loroupe as a strong and dominant athlete, and would seem to indicate a positive progression regarding media portrayals of female athletes. Generally, such discourse usually frames men as the only athletes capable of such amazing feats of physical prowess. The presence of such feelings surrounding Loroupe can be seen as disruptive to the discourses surrounding the hegemonic male sporting body, however, the Amazing Athlete subtheme does not exist by itself, as it is complicated by and exists along with the discourse explained below.
Untethered Mote?
As mentioned previously, the Untethered Mote subtheme emerges through stereotypical media representations of Loroupe’s ability as a female athlete and a woman. Throughout Loroupe’s career, there are many references made to her physical stature. Attention is drawn to her small frame and skinny build, as she measures around five feet tall and eighty-five pounds. Examples include ‘The tiny Kenyan . . .’ (Reuters News, 1995); ‘. . . having the frame of a sprite has its disadvantages, and Loroupe has learned to run through all manner of impairments . . .’ (Royte, 1996); ‘. . . the fast pace may have taken its toll on her 4-foot-11-inch, 85-pound frame’ (Thomas, 1996); ‘. . . with feet so tiny that even children’s running shoes are too big’ (Mackay, 1999); and ‘. . . she needs her running shoes less for foot support than to anchor her to the earth. Without them, she might simply go sailing through the air, a mote untethered by gravity’ (Mott, 2001).
While the above discourses seek to pin Loroupe onto stereotypical notions of female athletic ability of frailty and toughness, other discourses simultaneously raise questions about her sex and sexuality. During the late 1990s Loroupe publicly dismissed allegations that she was not a woman, claiming after one race, ‘I am pleased to show I am all woman. Some people have been suggesting otherwise, things like I am half man and half woman because I have been running with men’ (Lewis, 2000). Where these allegations exactly came from was unclear in the data gathered for this project, however, Lewis (2000) reported, ‘The Kenyan was speaking out after cruel gossips questioned her gender after her impressive times in races against men.’ Later in her career she would be framed along heteronormative lines, drawing attention to shopping sprees, ‘three-inch glittery pumps’, and the problem of, ‘‘‘A man,’’ she said. ‘‘I can’t seem to find one’’’ (Gettleman, 2006). That Loroupe had to respond to the aforementioned allegations is indicative of the treatment female athletes have historically received, seen more recently in controversy surrounding South African runner Caster Semenya and accusations of being inter-sexed.
As mentioned previously, the role of gender in athletics is a contested terrain. While there are examples discourses which focus solely on athletic ability, such discourses could be seen as improvement or as back-handed compliments. The continued prevalence of stereotypical discourse makes it difficult to truly accept Loroupe as a gender transcendent athlete. Given the examples regarding questions of Loroupe’s sex and sexuality, we can see there is often a quick reach to stereotypes and assumptions about the potential and capabilities of women.
Dominant Kenyan
The Dominant Kenyan theme serves to illuminate the links between Kenyan identity, body, and athletic ability of Loroupe and the discourses surrounding it in the media. Loroupe was the first Kenyan woman to win marathons and championships in the 1990s, and while other East African runners would soon join her, Loroupe’s main competition were White Western European women, notably Sonia O’Sullivan, Paula Radcliffe, and Uta Pippig. I believe this kind of situation lends itself in general to racial stereotypes in media representation of Black and White athletic ability, especially, in this instance, because of the prior emergence and relative dominance of Kenyan men. Despite the lack of evidence to support any inherent advantage Kenyans supposedly have, such stereotypes of athletic superiority persist in many forms. I was interested in how Loroupe, as a woman and Black Kenyan, was interpreted in the media and I found numerous similarities with other African and Kenyan male runners.
From the beginning Loroupe was framed as another typical elite Kenyan runner. Interestingly however, her Kalenjin/Pokot ethnicity was never a dominant feature of her representation. Otherwise, this framing follows a pattern of discourse often seen regarding athletes from developing nations which trivializes athletic performance due to assumed genetic predisposition or environmental essentialism (Bale and Sang, 1996; Denison and Markula, 2005). Such discourses reinforce beliefs in the backwardness and lack of modernity concerning these athletes as the notion that they ‘came from nowhere’ belies any technological sophistication in their training regimes (Nauright and Magdalinski, 2003). While Loroupe countered such typical discourses through drawing attention to discipline, hard work, nutrition and medical back-up (Aberdeen Press & Journal, 2000; Thomas, 1994), there are far more examples of Loroupe reinforcing such stereotypes, by drawing attention to her childhood labor of carrying heavy loads and walking long distances (Agence France-Presse, 2000; Cowdy, 2000; Patrick, 2000).
In general, a large part of the media discourse surrounding her Kenyan identity focused on her childhood. Throughout her career, Loroupe’s success was attributed to her being one of seven children, running to and from school, carrying firewood, herding animals, working on the family farm, etc. (Longman, 1995a; Patrick, 2000; The Express, 2000). What is omitted, of course, is the training Loroupe received in Kenya, at school, and the professional training she would later do in Germany during most of the year. This kind of framing, and omission, inherently reinforces Loroupe’s talent as ‘natural’ and Kenya as backwards, particularly in the areas of gender equity, modernity, and punishment. It also belies the existence of complex, technological, and emerging economies, cultures, and cities in Kenya, de facto subjugating developing nations to Western and other developed nations (Nauright and Magdalinski, 2003).
Moving forward, Loroupe’s accomplishments were at first very highly heralded yet became less newsworthy as her career progressed. While part of this is due to the media focusing more on Loroupe’s competition, fellow Kenyans Joyce Chepchumba and Catherine Ndereba, there is a more noteworthy and intense focus on Western (White) runners. More specifically, the media positioned White runners as ‘Great White Hopes’ in relation to Loroupe. Though British media tended to focus on Paula Radcliffe while Irish media focused on Sonia O’Sullivan, the media focus on nationality may not be as important as race in this context. Walton and Butryn (2006) found that in who counted as a ‘true’ American runner, the conversation excluded naturalized Africans and African Americans. I argue, carefully, that this logic translates fairly well to most Western nations. Thus, the favoritism shown to ‘home grown’ talent by Western nations is inherently raced and nationalistic.
The most provocative evidence of a Great White Hope is the issue of Loroupe’s world marathon record. In 1998 Loroupe set the women’s marathon world record at Rotterdam with a time of 2:20:47. The controversy started when the London Marathon race organizers claimed Loroupe had unfairly used male pacesetters to set the record. However, as Loroupe remarks:
I felt a little bit upset at what people were saying. I was the one who ran the race, not the men running alongside me, and I ran most of it on my own. No one has bothered mentioning that Kristiansen also ran in London with men. (Martin, 1998)
Kristiansen, from Norway, was the record’s previous holder the record, a record that was never brought into question despite her use of male pace runners. Eventually London Marathon organizers decreed all women’s times set in mixed marathons ineligible for world record consideration. Then, in 2003, London organizers slackened this regulation in London for British runner Paula Radcliffe. At this point, Radcliffe owned the official women’s world marathon record of 2:17:18, set in Chicago, and wanted to improve on that time. Though that time was faster than Loroupe ever ran, the hypocrisy of London race organizers was evident:
Radcliffe, who wants to break the record of 2hr 17min 18sec she set in Chicago, will be paced by men in what will be called a separate mixed race. Loroupe said: ‘When I ran my record, the London people started to complain. They were pointing the finger and now they’re doing it themselves’. (Knight, 2003)
When Loroupe owned the world record, or when Naoko Takahashi (Japan) broke the 2:20:00 barrier, race organizers never felt the need to give them pacemakers to possibly improve their time. It was only when Radcliffe, a White woman racing in her home country, was in position to further her legacy that London organizers dropped their protests and provided male pacemakers. Previously, London race organizers had claimed, ‘We believe that to maintain the integrity of women’s marathon running it is essential to recognise times set in women’s only races. We are putting our money where our mouth is’ (Mackay, 1998).
Further, stereotypical discourses surrounding the athletic ability of women are inherent within this issue. The previous quote speaks of integrity in women’s races, but how exactly do male pace makers hurt the integrity of women’s races? Men often use male pacemakers with no discussion of how it somehow violates the spirit of the sport. The idea that men and women are different in a way that any form of interaction in sport destroys the ‘purity’ of a woman’s accomplishments is problematic in this circumstance. Pacing is often seen in a sport such as cycling where pace setters drop off, eventually leaving the lead rider by him/herself to finish the race. It could be argued that women would not be able to set a fast enough pace to keep up with Loroupe, but perhaps it is more likely that no women in her class would be willing to potentially give up a marathon victory to help her set a world record.
Resistive Athlete
Throughout her years as an elite distance runner Tegla Loroupe voiced her opinion on numerous issues in the press. These issues range from the treatment of women in Kenya, women in distance running, peace in Kenya, to stereotypes regarding Kenyan runners. While her message appears strong and purposeful, we must remember that her voice is filtered through the media via their representation of Loroupe’s words and the very questions they ask. It is possible that questions were asked in such a way as to ‘create’ Loroupe’s resistance when she was ‘only’ transgressing established gender norms. In short, we cannot know Loroupe’s personal motivations for action through her mediation. Further, Bale (2001) reminds us that the structure of sport makes it difficult for an athlete to be truly resistive, as their voices and livelihood depend on the media, public perception, corporate sponsors, etc. For her part, Loroupe was sponsored by Nike early in her international career and Mizuno more recently. While Nike especially has been well studied for espousing Western-centric values through its athletes, there were no hints of any direct influence in the research gathered for this article (perhaps because of the compatibility of Loroupe’s ‘message’ and/or framing with that of post-feminism, explained below). Thus, while the purposes of Loroupe’s words are resistive, she is only as resistive as Western media allows us to see through its selective questioning and representation of such resistance.
At the heart of these resistive moments is gender, as, after winning her first New York City Marathon, her stance against the treatment of women, and female athletes, in Kenyan society led Western media to portray her as a feminist symbol. Kenyan society was portrayed in media reports, by Loroupe, as a country where, ‘The traditional system is, you listen to your father until your husband buys you [in exchange] for cattle, then you listen to him’ (Noden, 1998). Further, accounts of Loroupe’s early training with African men were often described as exploitative, with the male runners asking her to wash clothes, cook, and do their chores, with Loroupe often feeling compelled to oblige them because of her upbringing (Minshull, 1998; Mott, 2001). Such descriptions serve to portray an unflattering image of African men and a subservient image of African women. I do not argue that these representations are somehow inaccurate or outside of Loroupe’s experience, however, there are some things that we must keep in mind. To the Western media and audience, Loroupe represents Kenya, or, worse, all of Africa. While I cannot speak as to whether Loroupe felt that she was personally representing all of Kenya, we must wonder, when she speaks of traditional systems, whether she is talking about a traditional Kenyan system in general, or for the Kalenjin, or even more specifically for the Pokot. There is a level of detail missing that could help us understand which system Loroupe is actually talking about, but Western media does not ask the appropriate questions and Loroupe does not offer the information. The dominant discourses of Kenya and, often by association, Africa as being culturally backward are left unchallenged.
With the society, presented to us as ‘Kenyan’, Loroupe came from in mind, her resistive moments towards this society are still important. To begin with, her very involvement in sport was resistive as throughout her childhood Loroupe recalled that, ‘They try to discourage women. But I wanted to show them’ (Thomas, 1994), ‘My tribe says I am crazy when I run. Now they are quiet’ (Patrick, 1994). While it is often made to seem as though Loroupe overcame gender bias through her own determination, there was actually an infrastructure of women who encouraged Loroupe to pursue her running. This begins with the women in her family:
. . . her mother had grown up as an orphan and taught Loroupe the value of independence. One of her aunts told her never to be caught crying in front of men. Her older sister, Albina, told her that if you don’t own something of your own, like property, men will not respect you. (Longman, 1998)
Loroupe would also receive encouragement and build confidence as a runner when she attended a boarding school for girls. The support Loroupe received through her early years from women in the community and close to her, while certainly not absolute, is indicative of a more complex cultural system where women often help each other and are resistive within a patriarchal system. This complexity goes largely unexplored by Western media.
Once Loroupe won the New York City Marathon for the first time, she, and the media, had no problems openly criticizing the patriarchal structure of the culture she had come from or the Kenyan Amateur Athletic Association (KAAA). The media instantly took up her situation, printing text such as the following throughout her career:
. . . she surged over the final 10 miles to become the first Black African woman to win a major marathon. Her victory became an affirming symbol of achievement for Kenyan women, whose lives are often lived in subservience, and a silencing rebuke for the Kenyan men who had told her she was wasting her time. (Longman, 1995b) ‘A week after Tegla’s victory in New York, I was at a regional track meet in Kenya and saw a father encouraging his daughter to compete,’ says John Manners. . . ‘That would have been impossible two weeks earlier.’ (Brant, 2001)
Such framing paints Loroupe as a feminist hero for women in Kenya and for women in general. Further, Loroupe was quoted numerous times explaining the progress that has been made for women in Kenyan athletics and the responses she has received from Kenyan women:
Right now, we have a lot of women running, more than before . . . For me, I had to fight the federation [KAAA]. Still now, I have to and I don’t know why. But at least now there are chances for other women. (Roberts, 2000) ‘‘. . . after I won, the women came to me and said ‘You were wise to resist our words. We are proud of you.’ . . . It gave a lot of motivation to many people,’’ she said, adding that her village ‘‘gave me an ostrich feather. They usually give the feather to the warriors who come home victorious’’. (Lorge, 1996)
Loroupe’s outspoken approach and success seem to have had a positive impact on the barriers to entry in sport that women face in Kenya. Through her career, Loroupe’s efforts to establish sports training facilities seem to have increased opportunities for women to enjoy sport and, we might think, serve to disrupt established gender roles and stereotypes in the Rift Valley (http://www.teglaloroupepeacefoundation.org). Indeed, it was probably extremely rare for a woman to get an ostrich feather symbolizing a victorious warrior. Loroupe’s activist efforts, along with those of others, have resulted in training grounds for women, as well as educational facilities for orphans and children with HIV with the opening of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Academy.
However, while these representations of Loroupe distinguish her as an individual helping others, Western media discourses framing Loroupe as a feminist icon are necessarily problematic. In post-feminist Western societies feminist sentiments have often been co-opted by mainstream interests and commodified, through ideologies of individualism, for consumption by women as some sort of trend. The focus on individual vigor and efforts that post-feminism has cultured belies the importance of second-wave feminist activism and the creation of programs and organizations that help women around those feminist principles (Cole and Hribar, 1995; McDonald, 2000; Mohanty, 1995). In the case of Loroupe it can be argued that these post-feminist forces commodify Loroupe, for the consumption of Western women, as a woman from a developing country who was able to overcome a paternalistic society through the solitary efforts of hard work and determination.
Thus, while Loroupe may mean something very different for Kenyan women, for Western audiences she becomes another symbol of meritocracy. This line of thought links closely with humanitarian businessperson ideology, which serves to alleviate Western responsibility to developing countries, and also runs parallel with American ideals of meritocracy (Denison and Markula, 2005). The allure of such ideology is tempting because society valorizes and finds glory in the individual achievement. However, too quickly does a focus on the individual mask institutionalized disparities regarding socioeconomic class, race, gender, and opportunity, especially on the global scale (Cole and Hribar, 1995; McDonald, 2000).
Conclusion
My aim in this article was to begin filling a gap in the study of women from Africa, or with African descent, who participate in sport in Western countries. In this conclusion I would like to briefly bring together and further link the themes I have detailed here. The contradictory representation of Loroupe’s athletic ability, while still greatly gender marked, is further complicated by race and nationality. Beliefs about the ‘natural’ ability of Black athletes may sway some of these descriptions as might some of the beliefs of environmental and cultural determination that are prevalent regarding East African distance runners. I believe that these beliefs were critical in the formation of Great White Hopes, as seen in the London Marathon pacer incident, that were discussed in the Dominant Kenyan section of this article. The nationalism and racism inherent in attempting to keep Radcliffe atop the world record standings relies upon assumptions of ‘unfair’ racial or environmental advantages that Loroupe embodies. Despite this, Loroupe is still packaged as a sympathetic ‘third-world’ post-feminist figure that succeeds despite a ‘backwards’ patriarchal society which is represented through Loroupe’s own words. The erasure of any help Loroupe received throughout her career is used to simultaneously erase barriers women still face in developed nations and free the West (and Western women) from any responsibility towards developing nations through meritocratic ideals. Through critically analyzing and creating counter-narratives against the dominant discourses of Western media surrounding Loroupe we can now see a more complex interaction of the underlying lines of power, which gives insight into how Western media may seek to frame and represent Black African female athletes.
In close, there are many directions in which this kind of research can turn towards in the future. The global nature of sport makes it an imperative to study the knowledge created by a global mass media that often relies on simplistic explanations and stereotypes. An effort to create counter-narratives exposes the hegemonic norms of the West that are still, too often, used to validate its own existence at the oppression of the ‘other’.