Safaricom powers Mark Otieno’s Olympic dream with Sh1mn sponsorship

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 13 – As he continues to prepare for his first ever Olympics, sprinter Mark Otieno has received a Sh1mn sponsorship boost from telecommunication giants Safaricom ahead of the Tokyo Games.

The 28-year-old will now have access to the best quality shoes as part of the sponsorship deal which will also support his training needs and cover his logistics to allow him to attend other competitions.

“I want to thank Safaricom for seeing my potential and believing in me. It has always been my dream to compete in the Olympics and having the biggest company in the country backing me has boosted my own confidence and I am determined to do my best in Tokyo.”

“It has not been easy, due to lack of resources, but it has been worth every effort to get to this stage where I have the honor of representing my country at the biggest sporting event,” Otieno said as he received his sponsorship on Tuesday at the Kasarani Stadium.

This is a further continuation of Safaricom’s support to Team Kenya’s contingent heading to Tokyo, having last week unveiled a Sh20mn perk for the team.

“We are known for our pedigree of middle and long-distance runners having won the majority of our Olympic medals in these races. However, as a company that believes in going beyond to achieve one’s dreams, we were really inspired by Mark’s story and how he has gone beyond to reach his goal of representing Kenya in the 100m race,” said Peter Ndegwa, the Safaricom CEO.

In 2015, Mark clocked a hand-timed 10.11 seconds to finish second in the Kenyan trials for the World Championships in Beijing and the following year he dropped his official best to 10.39 seconds to finish second at the Kenyan Championships.

His breakthrough came in 2017 when he clocked the Kenyan record of 10.14 seconds to win the national 100m title in Nairobi, which booked him a spot at the 2017 World Championships. In his sole 100m race in 2020, he clocked 10.27 seconds.

The Kenyan athlete then bagged himself a ticket to Tokyo during the national trials where he timed 10.5secs to finish second behind Ferdinand Omanyala who timed 10.3secs, a new national record.