Print Media and the History of Women’s Sport in Africa: The Kenyan Case of Barriers to International Achievement

Abstract

Abstract:This article explores one source through which African women’s sport history can be drawn and interpreted: the sport sections of African newspapers. In the case of Kenya, the major dailies,Daily NationandThe East African Standard, are repositories of information pertaining to the challenges that confronted female athletes. Taking into account the history and development of these media, the article addresses the question of why did Kenyan women lag behind their male counterparts in entering the sport at an international level? Focusing on the early post-colonial period, it is argued that institutional barriers abroad as well as economic and cultural factors at home disproportionately disadvantaged female runners in their career progression. These conclusions would be difficult to substantiate without investigating the Kenyan press, a valuable source for anyone seeking to access information about the lives of the women who have contributed to Africa’s sport history.