Amos Abuga
Kenya will be hoping for a positive outcome at the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Youth Games in Rwanda despite enduring a gruelling 27-hour road trip to the host country.
The team, which was flagged off by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia on Friday, were forced to travel to Rwanda by road owing to financial constraints and with the games having started on Tuesday, the 28 athletes have little time.
While terming the situation unfortunate, National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) acting Secretary General Francis Mutuku told People Sport that they had no option but use the only available means to get to Rwanda. “We had an option of coming by road or being unable to send a team.
We opted to go by road and planned to have them arrive in advance. Some athletes were in Rwanda for East Africa Games just a few months ago and they went by road so this is not different,” said Mutuku.
Team Kenya will be led by chef de mission Humphrey Kayange with his deputy Hellen Obiri failing to travel owing to fatigue after featuring in the World Cross-Country Championship in Aarhus, Denmark last weekend where she won gold in the senior women’s 10km race.
“Hellen is coming from a gruelling championships in Denmark and it will have been unfair to subject her to such an ordeal gain,” said a source close to the world beater. Kenya will take part in athletics where the country has 10 athletes as well as basketball and beach volleyball where they have four athletes each.
Cycling and tae-kwo-ndo, where the country will be represented by five athletes in each discipline, are also on the cards. Mogonga High School duo Brian Tinega and Pesi Leshoo are expected to do well in the five-day championships again with the former set to compete in his specialty 100m while the latter is expected to dominate in 800m.
