Kenneth Dzekedzeke (born 1 April 1969) is a Malawian middle-distance runner. He competed in the men's 800 metres at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Athletics career

Dzekedzeke initially started out as a trainer for his sister Mandaliza, a cross country competitor, before taking up competitive athletics himself in 1986.Still Around: Ken Dzekedzeke
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

''. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2021. After competing in school 400m and 800m events he gained the attention of British athletics coach Frank Gallagher, who helped develop him into a national and international-level athlete. He won silver at the Independence Celebration Games in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

in 1987 and the same year set the Malawian 800m record at the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

with a time of 1 minute 49; the record still stood as of 2012. Dzekedzeke placed sixth in the third heat at the 800m event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics; only the top three in each heat qualified. He went on to compete at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

800m heats and the 1991 All-Africa Games.

Coaching career

Following these competitions Dzekedzeke won a scholarship to study a diploma in athletics coaching at the University of Mainz. He returned from Germany in 1993 and spent the next decade training Malawian athletes including

Catherine Chikwakwa Catherine Chikwakwa (born 24 July 1985 in Blantyre) is a Malawian long-distance runner. She has represented her country at both the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics, as well as several Commonwealth Games. She was the 5000 metres s ...

and

Francis Munthali Francis Fanello Munthali (born 25 December 1972) is a Malawian former middle-distance runner. Competing in the men's 800 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Francis finished eighth in heat eight and failed to qualify for the next ro ...

. He has also served as an executive member of the Malawi Olympic Committee and as head coach for Malawian athletes at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

References

1969 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Malawian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Malawi Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Malawi Place of birth missing (living people) {{Malawi-athletics-bio-stub