It is a good time to be an athlete in Kericho County, which is home to Kericho Green Stadium.
Any athlete or visitor approaching the facility becomes pregnant with expectation upon reaching the imposing gate, and the inside, hidden from view by the high gate, does not disappoint.
The stadium has been undergoing renovation for the last three months and was closed to both the public and the media.
As the gates open, we are dismayed by the magnitude of work inside the stadium. My colleague Jared Nyataya, who is a photojournalist is clearly amazed and at the same time pleasantly surprised.
The smell of new artificial running track welcomes you. It is the clearest indication yet that the suffering that athletes have been undergoing, looking for a proper training venue, has come to an end.
Next to the inner gate are the changing rooms. The stadium has floodlights, which means it can host Kenyan Premier League matches at night.
The stadium project will be launched soon. It will be open for use to the public as well as local sports men and women from the region, according to Governor Paul Chepkwony.
Last year when Nation Sport toured the facility, renovation work was ongoing to make the stadium ready to host the 2019 Kenya Inter-Counties Sports and Cultural Association (Kicosca) Games.
At the time, Chepkwony pleaded with athletes and footballers to wait a little longer, with the promise to deliver a modern sports facility in line with his plans to develop sports talent from the grassroots.
“We have finished working on the facility and it should be launched anytime soon after the artificial running track, which cost Sh37 million, has been laid. We did this because we have a lot of talent in this region, and the facility will be of good use to them,” said Chepkwony.
He also said that Kericho County is also developing playing fields which will have marrum surfaces for athletes to use during training.
“Many athletes prefer training on murram surfaces, and the county government will develop more of such fields so that they can always use that during their preparations ahead of various championships,” added Chepkwony.
There are also ongoing discussions to change the name of the stadium from ‘Kericho Green Stadium’ to ‘Kiprugut Chumo Stadium’ in honour of the Kenyan athletics legend who won the country her first medal at the Olympics when he won gold over 880 yards at the 1964 Summer Games.
An official from Kibaton Corporations Limited, the contractor who worked on the running track, told Nation Sport that laying of an artificial running track inside the stadium took three months which was within the agreed time line, something which made them proud.
“The base was done by someone else. We only laid the artificial track, and we hope there will be no problem of drainage in future because the contractor normally builds the base and lays the artificial track. So far, we have done a good job and we hope it will benefit those who are going to use the facility,” Emmanuel Chirchir from Kibaton Corporations Limited said.
Kericho County Football Kenya Federation boss Alfred Kirui said he was happy that footballers will troop back to the stadium once after the facility has been launched.
“People from this region love sports and we are happy that the facility will help improve the performance of local youth. Our athletes also have a reason to smile after suffering for a long time,” said Kirui.
The county government is in the process of building more terraces at the 5,000-seater venue.
Athletes have been scrambling for training space at Kericho Teachers Training College track as the track at Kericho Green Stadium had been tarmacked but and a synthetic surface had not been laid since 2017.
World 3,000m steeplechase record holder, Beatrice Chepkoech, said that she finally has something to smile about because athletes have been waiting for completion of work at the facility for a long time.
“When I broke the world record, I was using the roads to do my speed work but I’m happy the facility will be opened soon so that we can use it to prepare for the next season,” said Chepkoech.
Kericho Zoo Football Club owner Ken Ochieng also expressed joy, saying he hopes the facility will be opened soon.
“We are happy that apart from footballers, the facility will also help athletes in the region. I thank the governor for finishing renovation work on the facility. I want to ask him to just improve the changing rooms and we shall be good to go,” said Ochieng.
