Two more Kenyan boxers qualify for Tokyo Olympics
Hit Squad's Elly Ajowi (left) spars with Hezron Maganga during their training session at Avfitness gym in Nairobi on November 9, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Welterweight Elizabeth Akinyi (64kg to 69kg) earned a quota place in the women's category through the BTF Rankings.
- Veteran heavyweight boxer Elly Ajowi also qualified for the Summer Games through the same ranking system.
National champions Elizabeth Akinyi (welterweight) and Elly Ajowi (heavyweight) have qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Chef de mission of Team Kenya for the Summer Games, Waithaka Kioni disclosed on Friday that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Boxing Task Force has handed Kenya two slots.
Kioni said the two Kenyans were picked based on their world ranking after the last world qualifying tournament for Olympic that was due for June in Paris was cancelled due to Coronavirus.
"This is good news since our target is to take 100 sportsmen and women for the Tokyo Games," said Kioni.
Both Akinyi and Ajowi settled for bronze during the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament held February last year in Dakar, Senegal.
Kenya will now be represented by four boxers at the Tokyo Olympics, the highest number since the 2008 Beijing Olympics where Kenya had five boxers.
The other two who qualified during the Africa qualifier were Nick "Commander" Okoth (Welterweight) and Christine Ongare (flyweight).
National boxing team, Hit Squad, coach Benjamin Musa welcomed the news saying that Akinyi and Ajowi could have qualified from the Dakar event but the IOC Task Force had reduced the Africa quota.
"We are happy since we can now start working on the specifics of the four boxers. We would have loved to qualify at least two more boxers but Covid-19 happened," said Musa.
Musa explained that the Africa Zone III Championships due from March 21-26 in Kinshasa will be a good exposure for the Hit Squad that leaves the country on Saturday for the event.
The team has 16 boxers; 12 men and four women.
