Bosire to lead Kenya judo team at the Birmingham games

History-making Perister Bosire from Kenya Police is expected to lead national teammates at this year’s Commonwealth Games set for Birmingham after missing out on the last edition of the tournament in 2018 which were held in Gold Coast, Australia.

The team currently in residential training at Kasarani under the tutelage of head coach Joseph Mburu is aiming for glory at the competition which has attracted 71 countries and regions of the Commonwealth seeking to participate at the 17th edition of the quadrennial event.

Bosire who made history as the first Kenyan woman to win a continental title, a feat she achieved in Dakar, Senegal last year is optimistic of good show ahead of the global championship.

“I had very limited skills and technique levels at the continental event, an aspect which my coach and I have been working to make better and for sure I can see that I have improved in the two and I’m really looking forward to a successful competition .We have adapted well to being in the training camp generally and the environment is very conducive for us,” said Bosire.

The 29-year old claimed top honours in the women’s +78kg category after dominating Monic Guilavogui of Guinea on the last day of the Dakar African Judo Open. She qualified for the final after bulldozing past Mauritania’s Fatimetou Sy in the semifinals at the Marius Ndiaye Stadium in Senegal’s capital.

Congratulations to Perister Bosire and Lidia Barongo for winning gold medal & silver medal respectively in the women’s +78 kgs and -78 kgs. Kelvin Munangwe won silver medal in the men’s 100 kgs category at the African Open Judo Championships in Dakar Senegal.#TeamKenya pic.twitter.com/cBibyN22SM

— TeamKenya (@OlympicsKe) November 15, 2021

Kenya’s only previous medalist at an international judo competition was Esther Akinyi in 2013 during the African Judo Championships held in Maputo, Mozambique. Akinyi won silver in the open class event at that tournament.

Kenya will send 123 athletes to the games hoping to improve on the tally of 17 medals (four golds, seven silvers and six bronzes) won at the previous 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, and will be represented in 20 sporting disciplines at the multi-sport event in Birmingham.

Judo was an optional sport for men and women in the Commonwealth Games and did not appear at the Gold Coast in 2018 but it is now classed as a compulsory sport. It has been included on the programme three times, in Auckland 1990, Manchester 2002, and Glasgow 2014.