The whisper that cost Bernard Barmasai over Ksh 125 Million

The story of this duo is both exciting and heartbreaking. In the world of athletics, something as insignificant as a whisper can cost you up to Kshs125 million. That is an orderal former 3000m steeplechasers Bernard Barmasai and Christopher Koskei are very familiar with.

Their story dates back to August 1999 in Zurich, Switzerland. They were both competing in the Wetklasse Golden Meeting that was held in Zurich. At the time, Bernard Barmasai was 25 years old while Christopher Koskei was aged 20.

Just like today, Kenya was shining in the track and road races. Barmasai had done well in the Gold League meetings in 1999, winning four of the seven races. and held four out of seven wins in the races. An athlete had to win five consecutive times to get the $ 1 million Golden League jackpot which was given in cash.

During the race day, however, 20-year-old Koskei outpaced Barmasai, prompting the latter to whisper something to him. Barmasai only needed that one win to secure the multi-million-dollar jackpot.

According to Barmasai, he only told Koskei to slow down and leave the jackpot to him.

“I told my younger friend, leave it for me, and that is why he slowed down. Koskei was a good athlete and he knew I was going to lose the jackpot money.” Barmasai recalls.

After whispering that to Koskei, he slowed down to finish 0.27 seconds later than Barmasai who finished the course in 8:05:16. He claims to have spoken to Koskei in a local dialect, Keiyo.

“Koskei’s last 100 meters dash was really good. When he attempted to pass, I tried to talk to him. He would have won today but because he is a friend, and we have to live together, the jackpot is for my friends and I.” Barmasai was quoted saying in an international press, moments after he won on 11 August 1999.

However, that admission cost him the jackpot prize after the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) ruled that the whisper constituted unfair winning. The incident coincided with an increase in the number of doping cases, prompting the parent body of athletics to launch an investigation into the matter.

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Barmasai was disqualified from the Golden League million-dollar jackpot a few days later after the sports' governing body found him guilty of disrupting athletics for asking Koskei to slow down.

The IAAF would later rule that he was ineligible for the jackpot, but the race result would stand because there was no evidence of collusion. He was also granted permission to compete in the remaining Golden League meetings in Brussels and Berlin.

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“But if he wins them both and completes the Golden League challenge of winning every selected event in the season, he will not be eligible to claim the expected $ 1 million prize,” the council ruled.

Koskei denied any collusion with Barmasai and claimed that the noisy crowd drowned out his friend’s words. He also denied any allegations of race-fixing.

Barmasai, on the other hand, insists that he asked his counterpart Koskei to slow down in the final 100 meters so that he could finish first. He also hinted that if he won, he would split the jackpot with Koskei.

According to Barmasai, the issue had an impact on his performance at the World Championships, where he finished fifth and Koskei won. Barmasai later apologized to the IAAF for his comments and stated that he expected only a warning.

Despite that, the two are still good friends 24 years later. Both of them come from Keiyo South and Barmasai is currently engaged in farming in Kipkabus after retiring from athletics. Koskei is also a farmer in Keiyo South and has since retired from athletics.