The Minister of Sports, representing the Kenyan Government, has stated that the absolute priority will be the performance of their athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
With just over six months remaining until the start of the twenty-third Olympic Games of the modern era, Kenya has outlined its non-negotiable objectives: to achieve the best possible performance, making the Games an absolute priority.
Therefore, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, led by Secretary Ababu Namwamba, aims to leave nothing to chance.
The Secretary of Sports Cabinet, Ababu Namwamba said that the preparation of Team Kenya for the competitions is significantly at the top of his task list for this calendar year.
“We are delighted, as the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, to declare that in this year, the Olympic Games are the most significant and the top priority for the ministry and the government.”
For this reason, officials led by the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, the legendary Paul Tergat, and the Secretary-General Francis Mutuku, among others, were received. From the government’s perspective, the support will be total: “This is the Kenya First Government and the first Olympic Games for the Ministry. We would like to inform the country that we will arrive at the 2024 Olympic Games more prepared than ever,” stated Ababu Namwamba.
Among the joint challenges, CS Ababu Namwamba reiterated that both NOCK and the ministry were interested in ensuring that logistical issues, travel and visas, accommodation, pre-game training, among others, were addressed on time, and everything possible would be done to ensure government resources are behind this crucial event in the global sports calendar.
The Minister also expressed satisfaction with the measures taken by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) to ensure preparations for the upcoming summer games scheduled from Friday, July 26, to Sunday, August 11, 2024.
“We are pleased that the National Olympic Committee of Kenya is on track in terms of preparations, and we will also stay informed of developments, ticking the boxes on our priority list until the opening ceremony in Paris.”
“We are providing strong and unwavering support to athletes seeking qualification; we are ready to support Team Kenya, and all athletes can be assured that the government fully backs them, and we all look forward to cheering them on as they conquer the world once again.”
The Principal Secretary of Sports, Peter Tum, echoed Ababu’s sentiments, promising strong support from qualification to the games.
It is worth noting that the Kenya Sevens rugby team has secured a spot for the Parisian Games. The African queens of volleyball, Malkia strikers, also secured qualification after defeating Egypt 3-0 last August and will join the 40 athletes, the country’s specialty, who already had guaranteed passage to the world’s premier sporting event.
It should be emphasized that Kenya’s goal is to dominate the Olympic medal tally among African countries, as it did in Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown).In those Olympic Games, Kenya won 10 of the 36 medals obtained by the entire African continent and 4 of the 11 total golds of the economically most disadvantaged continent in the world.