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Posted: Wed February 11, 1998 
Philip Boit and Henry Bitok will always remember Feb. 2, 1996. That's the day they saw snow for the first time.
Boit, 26, is the Kenyan Winter Olympic team. He will compete in the 10-kilometer classical cross-country event on Thursday morning (Wednesday night in the United States). Bitok, 29, is also a cross-country skier. He is Boit's alternate.
So how did two distance runners from Kenya find themselves at the Winter Games? Nike helped them do it.
"People in my village don't understand," says Boit. "They think I am crazy. But I want to be successful with this cross-country skiing. I'm so serious."
Boit and Bitok traveled to Finland to train with 24-year-old Jussi Lehtinen, a former Finnish cross-country skier. That was when they first saw snow. At first they didn't enjoy the experience.
"We almost told our coach to change our tickets so we could go back home," says Bitok with a smile. "It was so cold. For sure, it was very hard for us."
The adventure became even more difficult when the Kenyans tried to ski. Boit was trained as a middle distance runner, competing in the 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meters. Bitok specialized in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The closest they had come to skiing was watching ski jumping on TV.
"For skiing you need a lot of power," says Boit. "You can't ski if you are weak. Running is mostly endurance. We didn't have enough strength. There is such a big difference between running and skiing. Skiing is harder than running."
Boit and Bitok hit the trails—literally. They fell a lot. Within two weeks, the Kenyans had learned enough technique to stay on their feet.
Lehtinen was immediately impressed with the Kenyans' attitude. "They were willing to work hard. That's the main thing," says Lehtinen. "They were true athletes. They were willing to make sacrifices. When they felt discouraged, I would give them a small prize, maybe a soda. It kept them going."
Some critics have called this experiment a Nike gimmick. The Kenyan Olympic Committee insists that it has planned to field a winter team for some time, with or without Nike's help. And Boit and Bitok say they are not spokesmen for the swoosh. They only know that without Nike's support, they would not be in Nagano.
"I am taking this to be my future career sport," says Boit. "I am here to do my best."
One supporter of the Kenyan experiment is Jamaican bobsledder Dudley Stokes. Not long ago, critics called the Jamaican bobsled team a stunt, too. "If the Kenyans don't win, I know it won't be because they are tired," says Stokes. "They may have some trouble with technique, but if they stick with it, in three or four Olympics, they will be very good."
Boit will not predict how well he will do at the Nagano Games, but Lehtinen thinks a top-30 finish is not out of the question. That's a long way to travel in just two years. The Kenyans have even learned to enjoy the winter weather.
"I so much love snow now," says Boit. "Because without snow, I cannot do my sport." Bob Der and Erin Egan, senior editors at SI For Kids, will be filing daily from Nagano. For a kid-friendly version of these reports, check out SI For Kids Online. Anything you want to know about life in Nagano during the Games? Click here to send your question to Bob and Erin, or e-mail siwriters@cnnsi.com. Be sure to include your name and hometown. Selected questions will be answered in upcoming columns. You can also send questions for specific athletes, and our fearless correspondents will do their best to get a reply.
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