Team Kenya’s 83-man squad for Olympic Games complete
Lilian Odira (right) dips at the finish line to win the women's 800m finals ahead of Sarah Moraa (center) and Mary Moraa during the trials for Kenyan team to the Olympics on June 14, 2024 at Nyayo National Stadium.
What you need to know:
- Julius Yego is among those seeking qualification for the Olympics through world ranking.
- Kenya’s 4x400 metres men’s relay team is also hoping to qualify through world ranking.
A total of 83 Kenyan athletes had met the 2024 Olympic Games qualification standard as at last Sunday’s deadline, National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has confirmed.
However, NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku said the number could rise with the update of world rankings, especially in athletics, by midnight of July 1.
The 2015 world javelin champion, Julius Yego, is among Kenyan athletes seeking qualification for the Olympic Games through world ranking.
As at Sunday night, Yego was lying 29th in world rankings. The top 32 javelin throwers will automatically qualify for the Paris Olympics which will run from July 26 to August 11.
Yego’s ranking was due to improve last night since points from his performance at the June 21-26 Africa Athletics Championships in Cameroon, where he won a fifth continental title, had not been factored in.
Kenya’s 4x400 metres men’s relay team is also hoping to qualify through world ranking. They were placed 16th globally. The top 16 teams will be at the Olympics.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed for Yego and our relay team,” Mutuku said on Sunday.
More than 10,000 athletes representing 205 nations are expected in Paris, where they will compete in 41 sporting disciplines. Kenya will be represented in six disciplines, namely, athletics, rugby sevens, judo, fencing volleyball, and swimming.
Kenya was represented by 85 athletes in six disciplines at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that were held in 2021 owing to Covid-19 pandemic.
“Kenya will for the first time be represented at the Olympics in fencing,” Mutuku said when giving an update to national federations on Sunday.
- German-born Kenyan fencer, Alexandra Ndolo, has qualified for the Olympics, and is currently training in France.
Kenya will also compete in women’s judo at the Olympics for the first time through javelin thrower turned judoka Zeddy Cherotich.
“We are aiming at having athletes who are 100 per cent clean in Paris,” Mutuku said in reference to zero tolerance to doping.
Mutuku said that Team Kenya’s ceremonial kit for the opening and closing ceremonies, sponsored by the government, will be unveiled this week.
The travel kit will be provided by team sponsors Tusker.
“NOC-K will also make available official Team Kenya merchandise locally and abroad,” said Mutuku.
This will be the first time that the national Olympics body will officially supply team merchandise to the retail market.
NOC-K has provided an elaborate training programme for various Kenyan athletes preparing for the Games.
Kenya Sevens are currently in training camp at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani while athletes are going through their paces at two camps in Eldoret.
Kenya’s national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers, were scheduled to leave the country last night for the Philippines, where the squad will play in the Challenger Cup.
