Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen is keen on diversification in a bid to increase the Olympic medal tally at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Kenya wrapped up the Paris 2024 Olympics with 11 medals—four gold, two silver and five bronze—finishing 17th overall and as Africa's top nation.
The highest-ranked nations at the Olympics were the USA with 126 medals (40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze), China with 91 medals (40 gold, 27 silver and 25 bronze) and Japan with 45 medals (20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze).
The USA fielded 592 competitors (278 men and 314 women) across 34 sports, China had 388 in 33 sports while Japan recorded 403 in 34 sports.
This is in contrast with Kenya, who fielded 72 competitors in six sports (volleyball, rugby, swimming, fencing, judo and athletics).
Murkomen believes diversifying Kenya's participation beyond traditional strongholds like athletics is key to climbing the medal table.
“We are determined to expand our event portfolio beyond athletics to enhance our medal prospects in the next Olympics. We’ll set even higher targets,” Murkomen stated on his X platform.
To turn this vision into reality, Murkomen announced plans to convene a meeting with key stakeholders to assess the Paris performance and set a strategic path toward Los Angeles 2028.
“To this end, we will meet with stakeholders to review our performance and chart the way forward, including early preparations,” he added.
Reflecting on the performance in Paris, he highlighted the improvement in performance from the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
“We won 11 medals, a better performance than at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” he noted. In Tokyo, Kenya recorded 10 medals (four gold, four silver and two bronze).
However, Murkomen also acknowledged the need for greater support for male athletes.
“A special mention goes to our women athletes, whose performance was phenomenal. To our men, your valiant efforts have not gone unnoticed, and I assure you that there are abundant opportunities ahead as we strive for even greater success in future competitions,” he stated.
The male medallists were; Emmanuel Wanyonyi (gold in 800m), Ronald Kwemoi (silver in 5,000m), Abraham Kibiwot (bronze in 3,000m steeplechase) and Benson Kipruto (bronze in the marathon).
Murkomen also highlighted ongoing efforts to collaborate with international bodies to elevate Kenya's sporting standards.
“I also took the opportunity to engage with international bodies and federations to explore collaborations that will elevate our sporting industry,” he said.
Kenya’s best medal haul was at the 2008 Beijing Games where they secured 16 medals (six gold, four silver and six bronze).
