Selection
Julius Yego is a Kenyan athlete who participates in throwing the javelin during the Olympics Championship. He was born in1989 within Nandi County, which is a popular region known for presenting long-distance runners.
The athlete has not only pursued in the educational studies but also gained interest in athletics after watching videos on successful athletes such as Jan Zelezny. After completing his education, Yego was employed as a policeman in Kenya where he spent much of his time on training to become a competitive javelin thrower.
Impact of Change
Yego’s eagerness, desires, and passion for participating in this game have contributed to his successful life proceedings in a significant way. It has not only led to his good performance in international games, but also towards meeting his athlete’s objectives. For instance, it has led to his appreciation as one of the best athletes in the world.
Additionally, his participation in the javelin has not only led to celebrations in Kenya but also his incorporation in the Orange Commercial Program (Thairu 2014).
However, pursuing his desire contributed to the growth of conflict between him and his father. Just like other parents, his father adored education significantly and disregarded the achievements in sports. Therefore, education acted as interference while fighting for his quest to achieve the goals leading to loss of time.
Psychological Challenges
Yego had experienced many psychological challenges before he succeeded in the field of athletics. For instance, he recalled how his short height and filthy body barred him from taking part in the javelin competition. He also remembered how training was strenuous regarding throwing spears in his preparation for javelin competition (Gittings 2013).
Additionally, his biography expounded on the long time he took before taking part in the international competitions since a lot of time was lost in branding him within these games. Additionally, it is evident that no one noticed his skills and potentials initially, which led to late nurturing of the skills. In this regard, Yego portrayed anxiety in the competition field since he was associated with failure derived from the lack of skills and poor training.
Yego’s competitors had extensive training and support from their respective couches before coming to the competition platform, which created a gap that was sealed later through the personal urge towards prosperity (Kenyan Sportspeople, 2010).
Coping Strategies
As a profession, athletics is associated with practice and feedbacks. Extensive training and feedbacks on the rate of improvements also contribute significantly to the success of the athletes. Unfortunately, Yego lacked a close person to take part in recording his improvements. In addition to this, personal motivation was another outstanding attribute while coping with availing challenges.
Essentially, the lack of confidence was also one of the challenges that Yego resolved through competing with other javelin players. Unlike other athletes, Yego had missed a chance to boost his morale before taking part in the competition.
In the Olympic Games, success also involved the acquisition of enough facilities, which the athlete missed. To meet his objectives, he undertook his training by cutting long sticks to use when practicing. Additionally, he developed the audacity to challenge his brother, who was a winner in the javelin competition (Julius Yego, the YouTube athlete who captained Kenya to Moscow glory 2013).
The athlete had an urge to defeat the brother, which made him train frequently. Moreover, he managed to watch diverse videos on javelin competition and also tried to employ their tactics in his training to attain the diligent competitors’ idea. Furthermore, the quest for training in countries such as South Africa enhanced his acquisition of courage and success while competing with other competitors from different nations.
Lessons Learnt
Unlike other Olympics participants who learned from their respective coaches, Yego achieved his skills from the challenges he experienced on the javelin practices. For instance, the participation in the practices enabled this athlete to learn that he had the conventional physique for the javelin game even when most people advised him to drop it for other options like rugby and football.
Additionally, it is evident that Yego learned about the possibility of good performance in sports without receiving any support from the coaches. From his participation in the 2010 Olympic Games, Yego learned that it was tactful not to give up at the stand of excuses.
This aspect has been supported by a statement indicating that “it is evidenced by how he continued sharpening his skills by watching videos and reading javelin related information online” (Longman 2012, p. 67). It is precise that Yego learned the essence of discovering personal talents and wished to recommend Kenyan sports’ authorities to hold occasional games for contest purposes.
In conclusion, Yego is an athlete who has undergone diverse psychological challenges in meeting his life goals. Unlike other athletes who depended heavily on the advice provided by their respective coaches, Yego had trained to become a champion at a personal level.
He checked his improvements and compared it with other athletes in a bid to be motivated towards achieving the goals of becoming an outstanding participant in throwing the javelin. Also, Yego plays a significant role in enlightening the government of Kenya about the essence of discovering potential athletes and nurturing them.
References
Gittings, P, 2013, YouTube lessons to Olympic final: Kenya’s javelin pioneer. Web.
Julius Yego, the YouTube athlete who captained Kenya to Moscow glory 2013. Web.
Kenyan Sportspeople 2010, General Books, New York.
Longman, J 2012, For One Kenyan Olympian, Throwing Beats Running.
Thairu, J 2014, Julius Yego – The unrelenting YouTube man’s Kagiso Media. Web.