Depleted Taekwondo team head for Olympic qualifiers
Serbia's Milica Mandic (Blue) and Kenya's Faith Ogallo (Red) compete in the taekwondo women's +67kg elimination round bout during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Tokyo on July 27, 2021.
What you need to know:
- So far, Kenya has 50 athletes who have hit qualifying times for the Paris 2024 Games in athletics. The men’s rugby sevens team, Shujaa, also booked a ticket after winning the African title in Zimbabwe in September last year.
- Kenya’s women volleyball team Malkia Strikers are awaiting for their confirmation as Olympic participants from Africa in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
Five taekwondoins led by Olympian Faith Ogallo are scheduled to fly out of the country early Thursday morning for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games African qualifiers slated for February 10-11 in Dakar, Senegal.
They include able-bodied fighters Ogallo, who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Jully Musangi, and Sharon Wakoli. The others are para-taekwondo fighters Stency Neema and Julieta Lemuge.
Initially, Kenya intended to field 12 taekwondoins in the Dakar contest accompanied by four officials, but the squad was cut down drastically because of inadequate government funding.
However, the Kenya Taekwondo Federation was still making a last-ditch effort to have the whole team travel.
Ogallo will fight in the middle/heavyweight category, Musangi (light/welterweight), Wakoli (flyweight), Neema (under 52kg) and Lemuge (U-58kg).
"I've trained well and I'm ready for the African Qualification," said Neema,21, who started engaging in taekwondo one year ago.
The five taekwondoins will be accompanied by coach Linus Marangu and team manager George Wasonga.
“We have been training since November last year. We are optimistic that we will do well because we have put in a lot of effort,” said para-taekwondo coach Philip Khakame who is not traveling.
Two qualifier slots are up for grabs in each category of the able-bodied competition, while para-taekwondo will have only one spot available in each category.
The Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games are scheduled for July 26 to August 11 and August 28 to September 8 respectively.
Apart from Ogallo, other taekwondo exponents who have represented Kenya at the Olympics before are the late Dickson Wamwiri and Milka Akinyi in 2008 in Beijing, China. Wamwiri passed away in September 2020.
So far, Kenya has 50 athletes who have hit qualifying times for the Paris 2024 Games in athletics. The men’s rugby sevens team, Shujaa, also booked a ticket after winning the African title in Zimbabwe in September last year.
Kenya’s women's volleyball team Malkia Strikers are awaiting for their confirmation as Olympic participants from Africa in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
