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Queues in front of a notice board, butterflies in one’s stomach before the draws for a lottery are announced, and finger biting before an awards ceremony. Humans are obsessed with how and if they are going to earn or win money that could transform lives. Ethiopian distance running star, Kenenisa Bekele, is no different.
“For me, money is an ingredient that makes things interesting,” he told Fortune. “Without salt, you can not consume food properly. Without money, sport does not mean anything to those who win the races. It is very important.”
But no big payday comes without some degree of stress or certain anxious moments. At the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, Kenenisa endured a few nervous moments before he would get a chance to collect the winner’s cheque.
With the American sprinter Sanya Richards and Russian pole vaulter, Yelena Isinbayeva, also in contention for a share of the one million dollars IAAF Golden League jackpot before the start of the evening session, the attention was on how much and if ever the trio would cash in by 11 pm local time.
“I know that if I am not careful I could end up with nothing,” said Isinbayeva, who despite dominating her event for many years was stuck at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany. It was here that she plummeted in three attempts over the pole vault and was disqualified.
Kenenisa, too, knew that anything and anyone can spoil his dream of winning athletics’ biggest cash prize.
“In 2006, I lost in my first race and I was really disappointed,” he said of his large pay-cut three years ago where he ended with ‘only’ 83,333 dollars after defeat in the first golden league race in Oslo, Norway.
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