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Pre-games camps key to good performance
National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Secretary General Francis Mutuku (second left) thumbs up with Nadia Ali (second right) of Miramas City after a meeting with Miramas City officials at NOC-K offices in Nairobi on December 9, 2022
What you need to know:
- Environment adaptation is one of the major reasons that teams attend pre-games training camps prior to major international championships, in similar environmental conditions to those expected for the championship
- A pre-games training camp is a training organised by sports organisation and host sports centers or cities, offering delegations participating in a particular championship the opportunity to train in the host country in optimised conditions of the upcoming games
- While acclimatisation is one of the major priorities for a pre-games camp, countries such as Kenya benefit from the offering of international level facilities to enrich the experience of the team
Athletics fans in Kenya will remember women’s marathon race at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where Peres Jepchirchir kept the Olympic medal in Kenyan hands. She battled sweltering conditions in Sapporo with an ice pack constantly held to her chest during the race while also attempting to support her team mate Brigid Kosgei with the same, which she probably had found to be working to beat the heat and humidity.
World Athletics reported that 15 of the 88 women who started the race did not finish. Tokyo 2020 organisers had predicted challenging climatic conditions particularly for endurance athletes, which had led to the marathon venue being changed from Tokyo to Sapporo just a few months to the Games.
