Busy time for Team Kenya hopefuls chasing 2024 Olympics slots
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games boxing heavyweight champion Cuban Julio César De La Cruz Peraza (right) spars with Kenya’s super heavyweight Fredrick Ramogi in Havana, Cuba on September 3, 2023.
What you need to know:
- There are various ways to qualify for the Olympics, specific to each sport as set out by the International Federations.
- There are qualifications in host countries, regional qualification, confederation qualification, IF qualifying tournaments, points-based world rankings, and play-offs. To ensure universality of the Olympic Games, a national Olympic committee can qualify a maximum of three athletes per event in individual sports.
Today marks 320 days to the Paris 2024 Olympics. At present, there are a lot of Olympic qualification activities and this week, Team Kenya will be focused on boxing, rugby, canoe slalom and taekwondo.
There are various ways to qualify for the Olympics, specific to each sport as set out by the International Federations. There are qualifications in host countries, regional qualification, confederation qualification, IF qualifying tournaments, points-based world rankings, and play-offs. To ensure universality of the Olympic Games, a national Olympic committee can qualify a maximum of three athletes per event in individual sports.
The boxing team is in Dakar, Senegal to fight for spots to the quadrennial games. Kenya has an opportunity to qualify 13 athletes, six women (one per event) and seven men (one per event). The men have to win their weight category while women have to finish in the top two in this first opportunity of qualification through Continental Olympic Qualifiers.
They will have the second opportunity to qualify during the first World Qualification Tournament to be held early next year, for any weight category not qualified through the Continental Qualifiers and the final one during the second World Qualification Tournament.
Rugby 7s men’s national team’s preparations is also in high gear, with less than seven days to their African qualification event in Harare, Zimbabwe. The team has been doing regular camps in Nakuru, Molo and Nairobi to sharpen their claws.
They missed the first qualification opportunity through world ranking – where the top four finishers in the World Rugby 7s Series get direct qualification. For Rio 2016 Olympic games and Tokyo 2020, South Africa qualified through top-four ranking. This time all top nations in Africa will meet to battle for the one spot available. A repechage tournament next year will be the final qualifying opportunity.
Canoe slalom qualifiers are also taking place this week with our scholarship athlete Samuel Muturi prepping to paddle his way to an Olympic ticket.
African countries could not host the continental qualifiers, therefore, the International Federation organised an event in La Seu D’urgell, Spain. Muturi failed to qualify in the continental event and has the second opportunity to qualify through the world qualifiers coming up in Lee Valley, London.
The three top taekwondo athletes — Faith Ogallo, Jully Musangi and Sharon Wakoli (who is on a National Olympic Committee of Kenya scholarship) — are in Poland this weekend participating in the Polish Open to get ranking points. Top five world ranking per weight category is the first opportunity to gain a spot in the Olympics. We will have the final opportunity during the continental qualifiers in February next year.
*****
Last Wednesday, I spent the morning speaking with Sean Cardovillis on matters Olympics. We’ve lost a great sports lover and fervent journalist. We pass our sincere condolences to his family and his loved ones.
Mutuku is the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya. [email protected]
