She was once a revered athlete who flew the Kenyan flag high in high-profile international races.
But Joan Nancy Rotich now lives in abject poverty after putting her trust in her then-boyfriend.
In a video seen by TV47 Digital, the 37-year-old Kenyan marathoner says she has lost all her fortunes from the races.
“The total money I won in all those races is almost KSh11 million. But the money I got I gave to my ex-boyfriend, I thought this guy loves me. I bought two cars for tours and travels business and the guy registered the cars under his name,” Rotich says in the video.
Even more devastating is when Rotich realised that the dream house she had built — through sweat and sacrifice — for her and her man was not hers.
“I also build a big house for this guy, I thought he will be my husband, but he took everything and went.
But Rotich did not give up easily. She was determined to bounce back. She trained harder, banking all her hope in winning the Doha Marathon in Qatar in 2018, to kickstart her life. This came to pass, as Rotich claimed top honours in the race, winning approximately KSh1.6 million in prize money. However, her agent duped her again!
“There is another race in Qatar which I won KSh1.6 million, and the agent duped me into depositing the money in his account, he disappeared. I am trying to make calls but he is in Germany and keeps on telling me that there is nowhere I will take him.”
All in all, all hope is not gone for Rotich. Despite being 37 years, she hopes to make a dramatic comeback and compete in marathon races to kickstart her life.
