At the foot of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, Kenya's famed Maasai warriors competed for honor and prestige, not by hunting lions but by running, jumping and throwing. The Maasai Olympics were created to encourage athletic competitions to replace the traditional lion-hunting as the way that young men can earn status in their society. Young Maasai men and women competed for prizes that included medals, cash, student scholarships, a prize bull and trips to participate in the New York marathon. Famed Maasai runner David Rudisha, world record holder in the 800 meters and 2012 Olympic gold medal winner, attended the third annual Maasai games Saturday. “I am patron of the Masaai Olympics to demonstrate the killing lions is no longer the way”, said Rudisha before the competition. “We Maasai have a future as great runners. We must run – not kill the king of beasts – to earn our manhood and to win our brides in future”.

The events of the Maasai games were based on traditional skills: three running events of 200 meters, 800 meters and 5,000 meters; throwing a spear (javelin) for distance; throwing a club for accuracy; and the high jump, not in Olympic fashion but in Maasai warrior-style, a vertical jump from a standing position. Young Masaai women also competed in 100 meter and 1,500 meter races. The new Maasai competition was created to help conserve Kenya's lion population – which has declined from 250,000 40 years ago to 35,000 today. “Lion killing is finished”, said Kimani Oltalesoi, spiritual leader of the Masaai, in a documentary. “We must protect our wildlife like we do our livestock. If we don't our way of life will be destroyed”. – The Associated Press

A Maasai warrior makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. Maasai men and women from the Amboseli and Tsavo region compete for medals and prizes in the event which aims for a sports competition of Maasai skills such as running, jumping, and throwing, to replace lion-hunting as the traditional warrior activity. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior holds up his stick to line his sight, right, as he prepares to throw a Rungu, a type of wooden throwing club also known as a knobkerry, left, in a throwing competition at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai warriors look up as a competitor makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Young Maasai women arrive to support the young warriors from their village at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior catches his swinging necklace with his mouth as he makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A group of Maasai women arrive to support the young warriors from their village at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai athletes take their positions at the start of a race, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Young Maasai women arrive to support the young warriors from their village at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai run, whoop and hold up a young warrior from their village after he won a running competition, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A young Maasai warrior throws a javelin at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior's feet touch down to the ground as he competes at the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior wears his hair in the traditional style, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai women spectators whoop and cheer as runners from their village pass them in the lead, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A Maasai warrior holds up his stick to line his sight, left, as he prepares to throw a Rungu, a type of wooden throwing club also known as a knobkerry, right, in a throwing competition at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai warriors look up as a competitor makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai moran athletes sing and dance during the Maasai Olympics 2014 at the Sidai Oleng wildlife sanctuary at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro near the Kenya-Tanzania border in Kajiado December 13, 2014. Scores of young Maasais representing four manyattas – a barrack for warriors aged about 16-25 – competed against each other on Saturday for prestige, bragging rights and a prized breeding bull for their manyatta. The Maasai Olympics is a biennial event focused on ending Maasais' enduring cultural tradition of killing lions. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

A group of Maasai women watch the high jump at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Maasai girls, dressed in their traditional wear, prepare to participate in the Maasai Olympics 2014 at the Sidai Oleng wildlife sanctuary at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro near the Kenya-Tanzania border in Kajiado December 13, 2014. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Maasai morans sing traditional songs and jump before the Maasai Olympics 2014 at the Sidai Oleng wildlife sanctuary at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro near the Kenya-Tanzania border in Kajiado December 13, 2014. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)