All good things must come to an end. After weeks of competition and celebration that brought the world together, the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Games are over.
More than 12 million people watched world-class sports unfurl in open-air arenas and iconic venues soaked in history. Fans were outstanding. Enthusiasm overflew Paris’ streets. Welcoming worldwide athletes and citizens was a real honour. Yet France has other reasons to be proud.
Paris Olympics upheld our core values. Equality, team spirit and fair competition were on display at the Games. But there is more.
For the first time in history, the Paris Games provided an opportunity to have 50-50 equal representation of men and women in the various sporting disciplines. These eco-friendly games managed to incorporate various sporting disciplines within the city of Paris, yet another first.
The host, France, broke its own medals record, finishing fifth overall. Kenya, with 11 medals, was the best performer in Africa and second overall in the track events. The triumphs of the Paris Olympics 2024 present us with a window to explore our enduring concrete partnership that is multipurpose and ground-based.
Our ambitions are well displayed in the story of Miramas. After a delegation from this city of southern France visited Iten, under the tutelage of National Olympic Committee of Kenya chairperson Paul Tergat, Miramas hosted the pretraining acclimatisation camp for the Kenyan delegation.
Today, plans are at an advanced stage to twin both cities and work on exchange programmes. Later this year, the mayor of the city is expected to visit Elgeyo Marakwet county to seal the partnership.
This move will take this relationship to the next step coming off the back of Decathlon setting up an Elite training camp in Iten as well as other partnerships with Ikaika Sport training camp with whom the French Embassy and World Athletics are running a Sport Medicine course to help train coaches on coaching and sports medicine.
France and Kenya’s collaboration in sports is not a recent phenomenon but rather a testament to a relationship built on shared values and mutual respect that offers opportunities to the young people of this country to explore their talents.
Whether it’s supporting football academies in West Pokot, organising marathons in Uasin Gishu county with local partners or launching a state-of-the-art basketball court at Kenya Academy for Sports in Kasarani through a partnership with NBA to train coaches and target school students, the Kenya-France sports relations have continued to soar.
It will thrive thanks to our recent partnership with the National Olympics Committee of Kenya.
Crucial to sports development is sports infrastructure and this is the next frontier of our cooperation. That’s why Kenya and France are currently discussing investing in mixed-purpose sports stadia across the country so that the youth can have access to sporting facilities tailormade to their needs. These “agoras” would be mixed-use facilities à la carte, that can accommodate various sporting disciplines.
The Kenya-France partnership is one of shared purpose and values that includes joint training programmes, exchange initiatives and community development projects that underscore a holistic approach to sports development.
By investing in infrastructure, we seek to find a sustainable sporting foundation upon which Kenya can build its future sporting successes – in the light of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations Kenya will co-host.
It is crucial to acknowledge the importance of sustaining and expanding our bilateral partnerships. As we reflect on the just-concluded Paris Olympics and Paralympics Games, let us not forget the role that sports plays in our daily lives.
Ambassador of France to Kenya