Dubai: Way back in 1994, Kenyan runner Tegla Loroupe won the New York City Marathon. Nothing extraordinary about that, except for the fact that she became the first woman from Africa to complement the many successful male runners who had previously won in the US.

That was just the start for this pint-sized runner. She successfully defended her title in New York in 1995 and finished third in 1998. As she progressed in her career, Loroupe went on to create new world records in the 20-kilometre, 25km and 30km races, and at one time, even held the record in the marathon.

She is also the three-time world half marathon champion while winning nearly all the other big marathons including London, Boston, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome. She was idolised by many African runners due to her amazing achievements.

However, after all her accomplishments in road distance running, Loroupe never won a single medal at any of the three Olympic Games that she participated in. At the 1992 Barcelona Games she was 17th in the 10,000 metres, sixth at the 1996 Atlanta Games and improved to fifth in the 10,000 metres and came in 13th in the marathon at the Sydney Olympics.

This weekend, she was in Dubai to start the 10km run at the fourth edition of the annual Dubai Women’s Run. While she can be proud of what she has achieved in all the races that she participated in, Loroupe had no answers for her lack of success on track in the Olympics.

The cue to this mystery came from one of the top officials at the Dubai Women’s Run. “Greedy agents and managers,” he said. “They just wanted to use Tegla as a cash cow. At the peak of her career she was doing nearly 20 races, if not more, in a single year. If this was not for money, then what else?

“She got rich because of her talent. But then, even the managers and the agents got something out of it.”

However, in all fairness, Loroupe is one person who is simplicity personified. Despite her fame and glory the Kenyan has always been such a humble soul. She is one of the few athletes who have used her fame to foster peace and harmony in the world.

She has travelled with eminent personalities like George Clooney, Joey Cheek and Don Cheadle to Beijing, Cairo and New York to end violence in Darfur, Sudan. Loroupe is also one of the 54 famous elite athletes called ‘Champions of Peace’ by the Monaco-based organisation, Peace and Sport.

And in the world of peace and sport, Loroupe stands tall. She is one person to be emulated.