NOC-K, ministry step up preparations for Tokyo Olympics

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has pledged to implement recommendations of the Rio Olympics Probe Committee to ensure Kenya’s smooth preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Rio Olympics Probe Committee was appointed by the government to investigate mismanagement of Kenya’s participation in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

Following the committee’s recommendations, some cases are currently before court.

NOC-K on Wednesday opened a two-day retreat for key sports stakeholders to draw up the final roadmap to the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games that were postponed from this year to August 23 to September 8 next year.

The workshop in Naivasha is jointly organised by NOC-K and the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Principal Secretary Joe Okudo along the Chief Administrative Secretary in the ministry, Hassan Noor Hassan, are expected to receive recommendations on the Road to Tokyo Olympic Games Action Plan.

NOC-K President Paul Tergat and Kenya’s Chef de Mission to the Tokyo Olympics, Waithaka Kioni, along with Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya chief executive Japhter Rugut along with heads of Sports Kenya, Kenya Academy of Sports and senior Ministry of Sports Culture and Heritage officials are among those in attendance.

Besides studying recommendations from the Rio Probe Committee presented by the committee’s chairman Paul Ochieng, the retreat group will also study issues around the Tokyo Olympics accreditation, local and international pre-Olympic training camps and travel preparations.

Kenya has entered into a memorandum of understanding and signed a contract with Kurume City in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture (province), for Kenya’s international pre-games camp.

“The meeting is expected, therefore, to discuss the schedule of the teams and requisite preparations including planning for Covid-19 compliance in Japan,” a statement from NOC-K said.

“The budget will also be tabled and discussed in the meeting.

“The principal funding of the Olympic Games is expected to be covered by Government, therefore it is the opportune time for the budget to be discussed and understood by the Government officials to facilitate the timely approval and release of funds.

“Part of the glitches reported from previous games is late approval of budgets which hamper the operations,” the statement added.

“From the athletes’ perspective, it is mentally challenging for them, having prepared for the Games for four years, and still facing a lot of uncertainty, including the challenges they are facing with training,” said Tergat.

“We should, therefore, work on giving the athletes the best preparations we possibly can. They need physical, psychological and material support to get them in a competitive level.

“This joint stakeholders’ meeting is therefore a good step towards this. As critical stakeholders, we need to strive to ensure that we do not drop the ball,’’ Tergat added.

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