• Dozens of Maasai youngsters in Kenya participated in the sixth Maasai Olympics.
• It is an athletic event supported by conservationists.
• It is a rite of passage for young warriors.

Kenya: Dozens of Maasai youngsters participated in the sixth “Maasai Olympics,” an athletic event supported by conservationists as a rite of passage for young warriors.

Saturday’s events included spear throwing, running, and high jump in Kimana Sanctuary near Kenya’s border with Tanzania.

160 morans or warriors, including 40 women, wore colorful sporting beads.

First held in 2012, the games replaced the “Olamayio” ceremony, which required boys to kill a lion to prove their bravery and manhood.

Kenya’s lion population has dropped from 30,000 in the late 1970s to 2,000 presently. Humans are the largest threat to lions and other animals, says Kenya Wildlife Service.

Maasai leader Matasia Nerangas: “We coexist perfectly with nature.”

Humans share grazing meadows and watering holes with wild animals, but we benefit more now.

Big Life Foundation COO Craig Millar claimed the activities helped lessen the lion threat.

“[The] program has had a big influence on the lion population, and it’s one of the few sites in Africa outside of protected areas where lions are stable or growing,” he said.

Saturday’s sports comprised 100- to 5,000-meter sprints and throwing events with “rungus” instead of discussing to scare off hyenas.

In the redesigned high jump, athletes jumped to touch a rope with their heads, like in the Adumu dance.

Winners received medals and cash.

Joseph Lekatoo, 30, has competed since 2012.

Now, Lekatoo is seeking medals, not lions.

Maasai elders praised the games.

66-year-old herder Lenkai ole Ngola killed two lions when he was young.

Tourism’s numbers are dropping, and it provides jobs for young people, he said.

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