• Speaking during the media announcement of the 40th Seminar of the Secretaries General and Forum on Finance, Mutuku acknowledged the tough competition posed by other African nations.
• Mutuku emphasised the need for Kenya to shore up the number of athletes and teams participating in the Olympics, which will in return improve the country's medal chances.
National Olympic Committee of Kenya(NOC-K) Secretary General, Francis Mutuku believes the country is on track as far as the qualification for team sports to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is concerned.
He said they are happy that a number of disciplines including women's volleyball and Kenya Sevens rugby teams have already booked their tickets to Paris.
He said they expect a few other teams to follow suit as the focus fully turns on Paris 2024. He said the next big event would be the African Games in Rwanda and they expect more teams and athletes to book their tickets.
However, he observed that they operating in a tricky environment in their quest to have as many teams as possible make it to the French capital.
"Lioneness (rugby) and 3x3 basketball (men and women) have a last chance to qualify for the Olympics," said Mutuku.
The national women's and men's hockey teams will take part in the Africa Hockey Road to 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers to be held in Pretoria, South Africa between October 29 and November 5.
Mutuku was speaking during a media briefing ahead of the Anoca secretaries general seminar set for November 4 and 5 and the Olympic Solidarity Forum on Finance for Anoca treasurers between October 31 and November 2 in Mombasa.
He said Nock would love to have a diverse representation across all disciplines but the qualification process has been competitive.
Mutuku believes there could be a solution in the future if the local federations bid to host major tournaments/qualifiers, easing the burden on travel, visa, and facilitation.
He observed that North African countries successfully bid to host such events now and then due to the availability of corporate sponsorships, infrastructure, and government support.
''Egypt with developed infrastructure, has sent their teams to very many competitions across the world. They have gained points. They are right at the top and have strategic direction and this is a challenge to keep up with," said Mutuku while referring to the Egyptian shooters, who have more than 10 athletes on the way to Paris.
Mutuku emphasised the need for Kenya to shore up the number of athletes and teams participating in the Olympics, which will in return improve the country's medal chances.
''We are sports people and we believe in going to fight for every opportunity. Right now we are not able to make a call on the numbers, but we can make a call on the determination of how we are going to do it by getting everybody to have a chance at doing their best,'' he said.
"We continue monitoring the athletes in athletics in terms of the qualification. The numbers are increasing by the day."
The 3x3 teams are currently in training for the African Cup Championships/Olympic qualifiers set for Egypt between December 1 and 3.
In the meantime, Mutuku hailed Shujaa and Malkia Strikers who have qualified for the Paris Games.
''We are very proud and happy that Shujaa have already qualified for the Games. We also hope that the women's team will continue to prepare for next year's repechage,'' said Mutuku.
He added that individual sports such as judo and taekwondo are all participating in various events with the objective of raising their ranking points.
Mutuku observed that they are also keen on next year's African Games in Ghana, which will also help teams qualify.
But with uncertainty surrounding the continental Games, Mutuku prevailed upon Kenyan athletes and teams to continue training since if the event falls through, ranking points could decide who goes to Paris.
''We expect the big event to be the African Games. For most of our individual sports, we'll be able to get the slots that include martial arts, practice sports, and other individual sports. That's where our best chances are. If we prepare well and do well in Ghana next year, we can be able to get more qualified,'' he concluded.