How much did Kenya spend on Tokyo Olympics?

Kenya spent an estimated Sh1 billion for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the provisional Games report has revealed.

The report presented to members during the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Extra-Ordinary General Assembly on Friday disclosed that the budget covered residential training, anti-doping testing and education before and during the Games.

The budget also covered residential training camp for the team and travel and overseas allowances.

Also covered were medal awards and management and administrative expenses.

“The funds disbursement schedule was jointly activated by NOC-K and the Ministry of Sports through a joint subcommittee - finance and procurement sub-committee - and ratified by the Steering Committee,” said the report.

NOC-K president Paul Tergat told the Assembly that a complete budget report will be in the final report that will be presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed.

“This is just a provisional report that we wanted members to go through and discuss it before the final one,” said Tergat, who declared the 2020 Tokyo Olympics a success during the Assembly held at Best Western Hotel, Nairobi.

Extremely uncertain environment

Tergat said that the Tokyo Olympics were the most challenging Games, having been postponed for a year.

“The traditional quadrennial event was also held under an extremely uncertain Covid-19 environment,” said Tergat.

As a key player, Tergat said Kenya had to make adjustments as events unfolded from Tokyo.

“Key among them was to rally all the stakeholders and find a way of ensuring that our athletes remained protected and assured of support following the Games postponement,” said Tergat.

Kenya collected 10 medals - four gold, four silver and one bronze - to finish top in Africa and 19th overall in the medal standings.

“Based on the circumstances, we were successful since there are many countries who went to Tokyo and were unable to get a single medal,” explained Tergat, who saluted the athletes for their outstanding performance.

“I also want to salute the federations and the Ministry of Sports through Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for leading from the front as the country navigated through the Covid-19 situation,” said Tergat, adding that the Games also came with many lessons for them.

“It’s a big plus for the government to have athletes in camp for over 21 days. This clearly tells us that we need to have Team Kenya in camp for longer if we desire good results,” explained Tergat.

Transparency

Tergat said that since his team took over the office in September 2017, they have remained transparent.

“We have managed that through our interaction with our members. We had a scandal-free 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Tergat, adding that it is his desire to have all its 26 affiliates represented at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Chef de Mission for Team Kenya to the 2020 Tokyo Games, Waithaka Kioni, said that the report that is incomplete highlights the milestones achieved in Tokyo in terms of the preparations for the team.

“It highlights the challenges faced, the support we received from the government and federations in preparing their teams,” said Kioni, adding that they would in future urge the government to release funds on time. “We want the funds more than six months before the Games.”

Kioni said there is a need to broaden participation to ensure Kenya has many teams or individuals participation.

General Team Manager Barnaba Korir noted that challenges posed by Covid-19 were so immense that our athletes from across the disciplines need to be commended for a great show.