Kenyan athlete Joan Nancy Rotich has narrated how he lost all her hand-earned life investments to his ex-husband and rogue sports agent.
Rotich, who represented Kenya in different competitions including the Jakarta Marathon in Indonesia and the Taipei Marathon in China in the early 2010s revealed she lost all her winnings of about Ksh11 million to the man she duly trusted.
“The total money I won in those races was almost Ksh11 million. The money I won I gave to my ex. I thought this guy loved me. I bought two tour cars, and the guy registered them under his name,” the athlete narrated.
Besides the two cars, Rotich revealed she had used part of her winning to build a house which was later taken by her ex-partner leaving her with nothing.
She also narrated how a sports agent conned her Ksh1.6 million winnings from the 2018 Doha Marathon in Qatar.
After securing an impressive finish in the women’s race, Rotich was awarded Ksh1.6 million. But instead of receiving the prize money, her agent convinced her to transfer the funds into his bank account, promising to handle the transaction on her behalf.
I’m jobless with 3 kids and baby daddy is married; Can I put him on child support?
“Another race in Qatar I won Ksh1.6 million. The agent cheated us into depositing the money in his account. The guy is in Germany now. I’m trying to reach him, but he keeps telling me there is nowhere I’ll take him,” she recalled.
The 38 year who plans to make a sports comeback to kickstart her life is struggling to make ends meets despite investing hard for her future.
Her plight has caught the attention of many Kenyans including the Athletes Welfare Initiative Kenya, which has vowed to support her in seeking justice.
There are concerns about the increasing cases of financial exploitation and violence against female athletes in Kenya by their partners.
Some of these cases have resulted in death with authorities calling for justice. In September last year, Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei lost her life after allegedly being doused with petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.
The 33-year-old marathon runner, who competed at the recent Paris Olympics, was returning from church with her two children when she was attacked at her home in Endebess.
In April 2022, another female runner, Damaris Mutua, was found strangled in a home with a pillow over her face in the Rift Valley town of Iten.
It came months after record-breaking long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in the same town.
In both cases, their partners were identified by the authorities as the main suspects.
