“I have a Ticket home,” was Henry Rono last align, “please!” In Kenya, the former miracle runner has made frequent headlines with his Failure as with an outstanding performance. Politicians, entrepreneurs and athletes are quick to grab the Star yesterday and the eternal worry child under the arms. For what he had done for the Fatherland, they promise to earn the 66-year-old Rono an evening of Life in peace. An American friend has put on “GoFundMe”, a call for donations on the Internet. In 1978, he was 26 years old, shook Henry Rono, the foundations of the running world. Within a period of 81 days he broke four world records. The best time for the 10,000 metres, he was almost eight seconds: 27:22.5 minutes. The record over 5000 meters, he improved to four and a half seconds to 13:08,4 minutes in the 3000 metres steeplechase by 2.6 seconds to 8:05,4, and over 3000 meters in three seconds at 7:32,1.

Michael Reinsch

a correspondent for sports in Berlin.

F. A. Z.

But glory and prosperity overmatched Rono, as well as the disappointment to be able to his life-long dream can not be realized. Kenya boycotted, like many African countries, the Olympic games of Montreal in 1976 and Moscow 1980, and world Championships in athletics there was not at that time. A great victory, the winning of a gold medal, remained Rono denied. He wanted to make up for some of his fallen heroes, took over the world Federation of the athlete at the end of the eighties, the Deposit, as Rono to prison. Twenty years later, in 2008, he awarded Rono at its annual Gala the “Inspirational Award”.

Since had been training up Rono from years of alcohol addiction, fought back, and thirty or forty pounds Overweight. And as he described what an incredibly strong Constitution he had, and how incredibly broken he was at the same time. On the day in September 1981, he improved in the small Norwegian town of Knarvik in the 5000-Meter world record to 13:06,20 minutes, he was woken up drunk. How deep the pain was sitting in about the missed games, the title of Ronos 2007 published autobiography: “Olympic Dream”.

The study, he came to the United States, had broken off Rono. His money he had squandered, or equal to, checks, and account numbers lost. He was for drink driving, had withdrawal cancelled treatments, and delusions of persecution developed. He had lived on the street and in homeless shelters and working odd jobs. His hard-won fragile existence as an Employee at the airport of Albuquerque in New Mexico state-endangered least, the government to a standstill. He was sick, and without assistance in bed, described Rono of the newspaper “The Nation” on the phone. Three decades ago, Kenya celebrated him as a “world beater”. Now, Rono wants to go home; a beaten man.