With a total of 11 medals (four gold, two silver and five bronze), Kenya came 17th in the Olympic medal table, the best result by an African country.

In the Kenyan town of Elderet they had created a sort of walk of fame where instead of actors there were athletes. The latest inductee has been as quick to disappear as the person she theoretically represents is on the courts. Strong criticism has led to the removal of the sculpture of Faith Kipyegon, due to the lack of resemblance to her or the simplicity of forms.

Clearly, Kipyegon deserved a tribute: the athlete made history at the Paris Games by becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1500m, crossing the finish line with a new Olympic record of 3 minutes 51.29 seconds. The 30-year-old also took silver in the 5,000m after initially being disqualified for an alleged push on Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay.

Another statue, also by amateurs, was that of marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, whose hopes of winning a historic third consecutive gold in Paris were dashed when he suffered an accident 30 kilometres into the race.

The criticism overshadowed the ceremony and has gone viral.  Social media users widely described it as a statue of Kipyegon, with radio station NRG mocking it as "horrible", while others branded it an "embarrassment" for the queen of Kenyan athletics and some called for the sculptor to be arrested.

"I don't know where they got the courage to disrespect the golden girl #FaithKipyegon with such an ugly statue.... The artist should be arrested," said one person on X, earlier Twitter.

"Those scammers in Eldoret who made this statue of #FaithKipyegon should be taken to court with immediate effect," said former cabinet minister Moses Kuria.

"Even those who approved millions of shillings on this nonsense should be held accountable before the Anti-Corruption Committee!".