Reading the career of a Kenyan runner: The case of Tegla Loroupe

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.