Why agile Rawino carries Kenya's hopes in Decathlon
Sports
By
Ochieng Oyugi
| Nov 06, 2025
After the rebirth of sprinting, especially the 100m category by Kenyan sprint ace Ferdinand Omanyala, which has put the country on the global map, Kenyan athletes are now daring to go in areas never explored before.
One such athlete following in the footsteps of Omanyala is Dickson Rawino, who is gradually making in-roads in a very rare discipline, the decathlon.
The 35-year-old agile contestant will be Kenya’s sole representative in decathlon at the 25th edition of the Summer Deaflympics set for Tokyo, Japan on November 15-26.
Rawino is out to improve on his sixth-place finish in the 2022 Deaflympics held in Caxias do Sul, Brazil where he made his debut.
“The goal this time is to make it to the podium. I have trained well and rectified my mistakes,” agile Rawino said while at his Kasarani training base.
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“I have worked on speed, endurance and other tactics that should help me bag a medal in Japan,” he said.
In Japan, Rawino will compete over two days in 10 disciplines that include 100m, 110m hurdles, 1500m, 400m, pole vault, high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin and discus.
“So far, I have shown tremendous improvements, and the sixth-place finish in Brazil three years ago gives me confidence that I can emerge victorious in Tokyo,” he said.
“I’m proud to represent Kenya in the Deaflympics once again and my goal is to finish in the top three spot,” said Rawino, who hails from Gem in Siaya County.
“When we went to Brazil, I was so close to winning a medal. I was only messed up in pole vault. I have since worked hard on that, trained well, and my leaps are currently suave,” the Maseno School for the Deaf alumnus added.
Rawino, who is currently fine-tuning his form alongside the rest of Team Kenya athletes for the Deaflympics at the residential camp at Kasarani, qualified for the Tokyo Deaflympics by flooring all opponents during the recently held national trials in Nairobi.
“Competing against athletes who have the ability to hear has elevated my performance. I have built the endurance and mental toughness needed for a victory,” the father of two said.
“Before, it was a big challenge to compete in all the events. For example, you need a proper mattress for the pole vault and hurdles for the 110m hurdles.”
“Athletics Kenya had all the equipment so I really benefited from training and competing with them. It would have been a big challenge to me if I had not seized the opportunity,” he added.
By taking up sports, Rawino has followed in the footsteps of his father, Andrew Rawino who was a sprinter but never represented the country.
Team Kenya athletics coach Samuel Kibet admitted that preparing Rawino for the Tokyo Deaflympics has not been an easy task since the decathlete is involved in multi events.