As the dust settles on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it is time to reflect on Team Kenya’s performance.
The team deserves a pat on the back after delivering 11 medals — four gold, two silver and five bronze — Kenya’s best on European soil.
However, concerns abound as all the medals came from athletics.
Malkia Strikers, despite improvement in Paris, are still without a set on four occasions while Shujaa are yet to reach the main cup quarterfinals in three outings.
Fencer Alexander Ndolo, judoka Zeddy Cherotich and swimmers Maria Brunlehner and Ridhwan Abubakar were underwhelming, exiting at the first hurdle.
Within the next Olympic cycle, heading to Los Angeles in 2028, a rethink of various aspects of sport is needed. We cannot continue to do things the same way.
Investment in facilities remains key. Team Kenya athletes struggled to find training bases after Nyayo Stadium and Moi Stadium, Kasarani, were closed for renovations.
This disrupted training and pre-Games preparations. The solution came in the form of a pre-arranged foreign training base in Miramas in Marseille, Southern France, where athletes pitched camp weeks before the Games started.
Mode of training — with a bias on science — and coaching, follow. Embracing experts, local or foreign, will help re-jig the normal and put athletes on a path to greatness.
Research indicates countries that outdid Kenya have invested in improving local competitions while regularly sending their top athletes and teams to international events for exposure.
Quote of the Day: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
Samuel Goldwyn
The Polish-born Jewish-American film producer was born on August 17, 1879
