The country’s famous staple food, ugali, likely played a major role in Team Kenya’s performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships.
That’s why Athletics Kenya (AK) is leaving nothing to chance when it comes to Kenya’s most popular food as they prepare for the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Florida on January 10. A
K is already looking for people and places in Tallahassee, Florida, that can serve Kenyan cuisine with the ubiquitous ugali—at least for people from this part of the world.
Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba (centre) and Kenya Sevens Rugby player Patrick Odongo serve food during the sendoff dinner for the Olympics-bound team in Nairobi on July 8, 2024.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) executed a detailed plan involving the Kenyan community and embassy in France, ensuring the team enjoyed Kenyan food, including ugali and chapati, during their training camp in Miramas and competition in Paris.
Kenya’s ambassador to Tokyo, Moi Lemoshira, led efforts to have the team eat Kenyan meals during the Tokyo World Athletics Championships in September this year.
“Wanyonyi had made a request for ugali in Tokyo, and he got it… the results were seen,” Athletics Kenya’s chief administrative officer, Susan Kamau, said on Friday.
“Our Embassy in Japan brought the Kenyan meals to the hotel while other athletes went to the ambassador’s residence to eat from there.”
Emmanuel Wanyonyi won back the men’s 800m title for Kenya with an impressive front-running race. Kamau said her team plans to carry maize flour and wheat flour to Florida for Team Kenya’s use at the championships. She said Kenya had a positive experience at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, where Kenya took the top spot with 10 medals—six gold, two silver, and two bronze.
“We carried maize flour to Australia, and our team chaperone Ruth Bundotich was kind enough to cook ugali daily for the team,” said Kamau.
Commonwealth Games 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala (left) and 2015 world javelin champion Julius Yego at the Athletics Kenya calendar of events launch dubbed “Road to Tokyo” at the Weston Hotel on September 2, 2024.
Photo credit: Pool
Julius Yego, the 2015 world javelin champion, recalls that during the 2012 London Olympics, the team visited the Kenyan ambassador’s residence in groups to enjoy Kenyan cuisine.
“We also ate Kenyan meals during the 2013 Moscow and 2015 Beijing World Championships, and it really helped in performance,” said Yego, who made history as the first Kenyan to win a world title in field events with his victory in javelin in Beijing.
“That time, we only went to the ambassadors’ residence since the hotel didn’t allow it. Even at the Olympics, we only eat Kenyan meals in camp or at the ambassador’s residence, not at the village,” Yego added.
Team Kenya’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wanjiru Mbugua-Karani, was busy ensuring the team was well fed before and during the Paris Summer Games, at the camp at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Kazi Mingi Farm in Eldoret, and Miramas, France. “We realized that the kinds of meals that would be served were Western and West African cuisines,” Wanjiru explained.
She said they requested Kenyan meals at the Olympic village and provided video instructions to chefs on how to prepare ugali and chapatis the Kenyan way.
“It wasn’t available at the Olympic village, but we had it in Miramas and the ambassador’s residence in Paris,” Wanjiru added. “We transported maize flour, tea leaves, cooking sticks, and sieves to Miramas for that purpose.”
