Uhuru hands over flag to Team Kenya
National women Volleyball Team Malkia Strikers players Emmaculate Chemutai (left), Leonida Kasaya and National Olympics Team Deputy Chief De Mission Shoaib Vayani at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on July 8, 2021, when the first batch of Team Kenya for 2020 Tokyo Olympics left the country.
What you need to know:
- First batch of Kenyan athletes leave for Japan
- President Kenyatta urges players to compete fair and to represent the country well
President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday bid farewell to Team Kenya athletes who will compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and urged them to compete effectively and fairly.
The President, who hosted the team at State House, Nairobi, also launched Team Kenya’s new Nike kit just minutes before deputy head of delegation, Shoiab Vayani, led the first batch of athletes and officials out to a pre-Olympics training camp in Kurume City in Japan.
The President also handed over the national flag to Kenya Sevens captain Andrew Amonde on behalf of Kenya’s Olympics and Paralympic athletes.
“I want you to play safe and clean at the Games in line with our national values and practices,” said Mr Kenyatta, noting that the athletes play a critical role in enhancing national cohesion, global branding and socioeconomic development.
“You have been the country's true ambassadors for echoing our values of hard work and service to the nation and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is another opportunity for us to promote these qualities that position us for sporting success,” the President, flanked by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, said.
Also present were National Olympics Committee of Kenya President Paul Tergat, Secretary General Francis Mutuku and the National Paralympics Committee of Kenya President, Agnes Oluoch.
Although American sportswear manufacturer Nike unveiled part of its specialised design kit for Team Kenya for the Olympics in February last year, it was the first time it was unveiled locally by President Kenyatta.
Nike launched the kit last year in New York alongside those of the other countries that it will kit.
While the designs of the kits for other countries are generic, Kenya's kit was conceived as a special project by Nike and looks different.
On Thursday, Vayani led a team of eight athletes from the national women’s volleyball team to Kurume City for a pre-Olympics camp. The team has head coach Paul Bitok and deputy captain Jane Wacu.
“I was a player for 11 years and I have now been a coach for a similar period. I have been to the World Cup and the World Championships but this is the first time I am heading to the Olympics,” said Bitok.
“I don’t want my players to go and just participate but win matches too.”
“I will be satisfying to play at the Olympics for the first time,” the 36-year-old Wacu said.
