Posted by Shashank

The other morning I was "taking tea" -- as Kenyans like to say, even when it's coffee -- with Ezekiel Kemboi, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. We were in Eldoret, the capital of Kenya's track-and-field heartland, where it sometimes seems like you can't walk 10 feet without hitting a world-class marathoner or middle-distance runner. (There's even a Nike Eldoret shoe.)

We were sitting on the dusty veranda of an Eldoret hotel, waiting for our coffees, when the waitress brought two empty cups and placed them, upside-down, in front of us. Ezekiel turned his cup over and scooped three giant tablespoons of sugar into it. Then his drink arrived -- that steaming, soap-water-colored, ten-parts-whole-milk-one-part-Nescafe concoction that I'm inevitably offered in upcountry Kenya but try to avoid drinking at all costs -- and a few sips in, Ezekiel stirred in another generous helping of sugar.

How's that for an Olympian's breakfast. You wouldn't catch a superstar American athlete putting that in his body. (Except maybe Michael Phelps, who had a famously crazy diet even before we knew about his herbal supplements.) We know our sports stars' diets to be painstakingly precise, calibrated like chemical formulas by armies of dieticians, nutritionists and personal chefs. A thermos of whole milk mixed with a quarter-pound of granulated sugar would not make the grade.

Kenyans take a much more.....