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INSIDE AFRICA
Profiles of African Athletes
Aired November 24, 2007 - 12:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FEMI OKE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Femi Oke. This is INSIDE AFRICA, your weekly look at live and issues on the continent.
This week, we focus on some compelling sports figures who are either from Africa or has strong ties to the continent. We profile Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, who is widely considered the greatest distance runner of his time. And Mathias Kiwanuka, a member of the New York Giants whose Ugandan heritage is never far from his mind. We'll also meet a Texas running coach from Burundi, who feels he survived a massacre so that he could bear witness to genocide. And a South African runner, who hopes to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, even though he has no feet. Some remarkable stories. More about that just a little bit later. Also ahead, MBA star Dikembe Mutombo proves he's a giant off the court in his native Congo.
But we begin with one of the greatest running champions of all time - Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. Not only did he win the Berlin marathon just a few weeks ago, he set a new world record in the process. The CNN program "REVEALED" charted his quest to reach that goal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's three weeks before the Berlin marathon, and a typical morning of training for Haile Gebrselassie.
HAILE GEBRSELASSIE, LONG DISTANCE RUNNER: Just before I go to training, you know, just I have to go to pray a little bit, because I'm a religious person, I'm Christian.
(inaudible), just giving me (inaudible) music before I start training.
We start five, two, six, six. We do another three weeks in (inaudible). I truly, you know, just our preparation is non-stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haile won the Berlin marathon last year, but he has set a new goal for 2007 -- to win it with the fastest marathon time ever.
TEFERA GHEDAMU, TALK SHOW HOST, ETHIOPIA: He's ready for any challenge, but he never tells you that he's going to win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haile trains in a group of Ethiopian runners under the guidance of their coach, Dr. Yilma Berta.
DR. YILMA BERTA, HAILE'S COACH: I have many athletes, many marathon runners, and I'm very (inaudible) on them too, but with Haile especially. That's because he wins and he listens what I'm saying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Years of success have allowed Haile to build his own home on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
GEBRSELASSIE: The most important in my life, of course, is family. I'm really very careful with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With sporting success comes wealth, and the opportunity to invest in his country. Haile and his wife Alem run a number of businesses together, including a gym and a cinema.
GEBRSELASSIE: This is the first private cinema in Ethiopia. Before, no one cares about Ethiopian film.
TAFARI WOSSEN, ETHIOPIAN JOURNALIST: He is both generous and he encourages people to be self-sustainable and so forth. He does not believe in charity per se.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Haile, education is paramount. He supports a local orphanage that offers vocational training.
GEBRSELASSIE: Much more (inaudible) how to help the people, not to give them money. Don't give them a fish; show them how to fish. You cannot change people's life by giving money. You can change people's lives by giving work or giving a kind of education.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His first steps were taken many hours down the road, in a small rural town called Acela (ph). Visits to Acela take Haile sharply back to the childhood that saw the odds of success stacked against him.
GEBRSELASSIE: Our main house was like this big, and the kitchen where we cooked, is like that. Let me show you, you know, just the house - the whole family, how they lived.
I used to sleep, you know, like this, and where we put all the clothes, over there. In the evening, you know, just we have a fire somewhere here, and just we sit together and (inaudible) my father and mother, who were 12. Five brothers and four sisters live together. It's normal. It's a countryside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Haile's daily journey to school that first set him in motion.
GEBRSELASSIE: I used to do 10 kilometers to school, and 10 back home. For 10 years, imagine. That's why I'm a good runner at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Haile's first Olympic gold medal in 1996 that catapulted the young runner into the international spotlight.
GEBRSELASSIE: That was, you know, a special moment for me. That's what I was dreaming for many years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four years later, Haile did it again.
GEBRSELASSIE: When we got back to Addis Ababa, that was unbelievable.
WOSSEN: Literally, from the airport to the stadium, there were people lined up. It's almost like a head of state coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president later made one of the city streets a tribute to its national hero.
Haile continues to draw great excitement from the victories that have brought him such acclaim. But he won't be satisfied until he beats the marathon record, and with just two weeks until the Berlin marathon, the clock is running.
Marathon weekend has arrived, and Berlin is building up to the event. At the airport, Haile lands in typical good spirits.
GEBRSELASSIE: This is the only distance I could not break another record. To plan is an easy thing, but you know, just to do something, it's not, not easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sunday morning. Haile rises before the sun. At 8:55, the time has come. Haile makes his way onto the course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the race begins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) for Gebrselassie, although it's the early stage, (inaudible), is exactly right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within 20 kilometers, Haile has entirely shed his competition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty kilometers in, and the pacemakers drop out now, and he's on his own, and they wave him on his way. He's about 20 seconds ahead of world record schedule, and he's absolutely flying.
The world record has been smashed!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And history is made. Haile has broken the marathon world record by 29 seconds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: Gebrselassie plans to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he'd be 35, just getting into his stride.
Coming up on INSIDE AFRICA, a young New York Giants player stays true to his Ugandan roots, and a giant in the NBA gives back to his native Congo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making business news in Africa. Google is teaming up with Kenya's leading mobile service provider to offer free email for mobile phones. Under the deal, Safaricom subscribers would also (AUDIO GAP), a version of Google Maps and 4.8 gigabytes of storage.
Malawi's sluggish coffee industry has come up with a new marketing strategy. The Coffee Association of Malawi is now encouraging producers to roast and brand premium coffees, instead of merely exporting unprocessed beans. The organization says Malawian coffee tends to have a gentler taste and lower acidity than most African coffees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: Hello again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA.
Mathias Kiwanuka has established himself as a rising star in the NFL. Although he's currently sidelined by a broken leg, the New York Giants linebacker appears to have a bright future in the league. He draws pride and inspiration from a family legacy built in Uganda. His grandfather, Benedicto Kiwanuka, served as that country's first prime minister and was assassinated in 1972. As Larry Smith reports, the grandson is determined to represent the family name with honor and distinction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At 6' 5'' and 265 pounds, New York Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka has always loomed large, but his grandfather, Benedicto Kiwanuka, cast an even bigger shadow. The London-educated lawyer led Uganda's quest for independence and championed the cause of the common man. Elected as Uganda's first prime minister in 1961, his convictions ultimately got him assassinated in 1972.
MATHIAS KIWANUKA, NEW YORK GIANTS: He worked diligently to get people the rights, you know, that they deserved, and he fought anyone who was opposed to that.
Every time I sit down with somebody who was closer to him, I learn some new things, and I feel like I could live my entire life and still not know everything about him.
SMITH: Kiwanuka's heritage has always been a source of pride. So much so, he got a tattoo on his back that honors his homeland.
KIWANUKA: From a young age, I've always been Ugandan. You know, growing up, when the elders come to the house, you always spoke in Ugandan, you always greeted them in a traditional way. So it's always been engrained in me.
SMITH: This past spring, the 24-year-old returned to Uganda for the first time since he was in the third grade. The experience was life-changing.
KIWANUKA: You come back to the States and you view everything in a new light. And it's hard for you to adjust, you know, on your return trip to your life as it is, because when you get there and you see the things that you deem as necessary here, but you get there and people live their entire lives without -- you know, like running water, electricity, a refrigerator -- it kind of, it changes things for you. And then for me to get out there and see my family members, you know, living in circumstances like that, it's different and it's gut wrenching and it's beautiful at the same time, because you see how little people need and how happy they can be with really the basics.
There is something that I feel like if anybody had the opportunity, you should definitely take it. And regardless of whether you have ties to the land, if your family came from there or not, I think it will definitely change your life.
SMITH: Considering where he's from, where he wants to go shouldn't be a surprise. Kiwanuka wants to leave a legacy of his own in his native country.
KIWANUKA: The hope is, you know, eventually I can get in and start up my own organization and have it flourish into something that is really meaningful and is really helpful and truly supports the people of Uganda.
SMITH: It's a goal his grandfather would most certainly approve.
Larry Smith, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: Thanks, Larry.
Now to another American sports league - the NBA, where veteran center Dikembe Mutombo has cemented his reputation as a prolific shot blocker and rebounder. I'm not surprised - the man is huge. He's also known to be one of the most generous members of the league.
As Larry Smith reports, Mutombo has helped build a much-needed hospital in his native Congo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa, amid great poverty and disease. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his blessings with others.
SMITH: Recognition by an American president is just one of the many honors dedicated to a man whose life may be defined by his actions outside the sports arena.
Dikembe Mutombo is heading into his seventeenth season as an NBA player, but it's his humanitarian work that had members of Congress on their feet, applauding. Mutombo has led an effort that culminated with a brand-new hospital opening in his native country this summer.
DIKEMBE MUTOMBO, NBA PLAYER: I think it will be a big impact, and I think it's the first kind of this hospital to be built in my country in 45 years. And it's (inaudible) to creating jobs, but it's also bringing hope, so long that people in my country, when they get sick, they are trying to find a way to go to Europe or to go to South Africa. Now they will have an ability to just go to the place down the street, where they can get treatment and go home.
SMITH: Mutombo was born to Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo in Kinshasa, Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The seventh of 10 children, Dikembe has spent nearly eight years garnering support for the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, a $29 million, 300- bedroom hospital named after his late mother.
MUTOMBO: I watched my mom and my dad raising us, the way they look after the brothers and sisters and the nephews, and it come to the point that when I was growing up, I told myself, if I end up being a successful man, I would like to be like my dad and my mom. And I got a chance to be in the shoes that I am in today, and making good money after a while, and I can do it.
SMITH: And to do it he has. Mutombo donated $15 million of his own money to the construction of the hospital. It's a project close to his heart, a project that almost never happened.
MUTOMBO: It took a while. It took almost 12 years to get it done. I had to fight a lot of people there, and I was not happy.
SMITH: But Mutombo persevered, and with help from the president of Congo, his dream will soon be a reality.
Larry Smith, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: I remember meeting Dikembe Mutombo many years ago on INSIDE AFRICA, and he said, "Femi, I'm going to the DRC to build a hospital," so it's great to see that hospital is actually there and he's making a difference.
Coming up on INSIDE AFRICA, from writing about genocide to helping others reach their athletic goals. A Burundian runner shares his life experience. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OKE: You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. Welcome back.
Gilbert Tuhabonye will always bear the physical and emotional scars from the fiery massacre he survived as a teenager. He chronicles that horrific day and the 1993 Burundi genocide in his book, "This Voice in My Heart." He rewrote his life in America, and now passes on the wisdom of his experiences through coaching. ITN's John Irvine caught up with Tuhabonye on the job in Austin, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN IRVINE, ITN CORRESPONDENT: These young runners -- they're called Gilbert's Gazelles - always have an early start. Their coach insists upon it.
GILBERT TUHABONYE, COACH: Wonderful, girls, good job. Good job, girls.
IRVINE: The enthusiastic Gilbert Tuhabonye likes to witness first light firsthand. He once thought he'd never see another dawn.
It was October 1993, when the Hutus of Burundi turned on their fellow countrymen, women and children of the Tutsi tribe. Gilbert and other Tutsi children were forced into a building which was set on fire. He lived by hiding under burning dead bodies, waiting for nightfall, and then running for his life.
Fourteen years later, the scars are all too obvious, and Gilbert is still asking himself why he was the sole survivor of that massacre.
TUHABONYE: Why those people died and I was able to escape? What did I deserve? You put a question mark. I had nightmares when I was in the hospital, but reading the Bible was able to help me out, and then I found another hobby, running. Running became my joy, my everything. It's my therapy.
IRVINE: As he leads his gazelles, Gilbert chants rhythmically in his native tongue.
Despite all that happened, he remains loyal to Burundi and wants to make the team to compete in the marathon in Beijing.
TUHABONYE: To make it would be a great thing, but it's also, if I don't make it, it's not the end of the day.
IRVINE: If he doesn't make it, he'll be satisfied to just be the inspiration that's made him something of a celebrity with a common touch.
TUHABONYE: Every step that I take, every moment that I - I'm out here running, it's - I count as a blessing, because I could have been dead.
You follow me now.
IRVINE: Follow me now, he said, and they do. Gladly.
John Irvine, ITV News, Austin, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: Next on INSIDE AFRICA, South Africa's blade runner sets his sights on the Olympics. See you on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OKE: Excellent to see you again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. His name is Oscar Pistorius. His nickname includes the fastest man on no legs, and the blade runner. Due to a birth defect that left him a double amputee before his first birthday, he runs on feet made of high-tech carbon fiber. But as ITN's Martin Geissler reports, the South African has had to fight for the right to compete on an equal footing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN GEISSLER, ITN CORRESPONDENT: The world of athletics has never seen anything quite like Oscar Pistorius. The fastest man on no legs is giving them a headache. A double amputee, Oscar runs on carbon fiber blades, and that's the problem. The sport's governing body had ruled that these cheater feet could be an unfair advantage. They banned him from able- bodied competition.
But now they've amended that decision, and the 21-year-old's dream of competing in next year's Olympics is back on track. Years of grueling training may not be wasted after all.
OSCAR PISTORIUS, AMPUTEE ATHLETE: (inaudible) that makes all that worthwhile, so you can imagine three and a half seasons' work, you know. (inaudible) we can start playing with the big boys. So I think that's going to be fun.
GEISSLER: A birth defect meant Oscar had his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday. He's never walked on his own two feet, which makes his achievement all the more remarkable.
Already this year, Oscar Pistorius has racked up times that would have won him the women's gold at 100, 200 and 400 meters at the last Olympics. He's convinced that with another 12 months training under his belt, he can put himself right up there amongst the world's fastest men in Beijing.
The sports governing body is having special tests carried out on these prosthetics, to see if they give the runner extra height, a longer stride, or a spring-loaded step. Pistorius is adamant they provide no advantage. If he's right, you should see them and him in China next year.
PISTORIUS: (inaudible) definitely are a lot more than any of the pros. I mean, if anything, you know, there aren't any pros that we can identify that being better than an able-bodied leg, and there really isn't anything that can be better than a human limb.
GEISSLER: Here in South Africa, Pistorius is already big news with big sponsors. The blade runner has fame and a small fortune, but none of that will matter if he's denied his dream.
Ultimate ambitions?
PISTORIUS: Make a final of an Olympic games one day.
GEISSLER: And it's that kind of drive that's got him this far in the face of the most incredible adversity.
Martin Geissler, ITV News, Pretoria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKE: I love that story. Oscar, we're going to be rooting for you for Beijing 2008. I feel like I need to go jogging now, and I should do some exercise, keep fit.
That's a wrap for INSIDE AFRICA for this week. I'm Femi Oke. Until the next time, take care.
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