MIRAMAS, France, Jul 10 - 2024
The second batch of Team Kenya comprising of athletics arrived in Miramas Wednesday ready for the final phase of preparations ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games scheduled to start July 26.
The team majorly comprising of sprinters led by 400m national champion Zablon Ekwam touched down at the Marseille International airport 10am local time accompanied by National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Executive Member, Paul Otula.
Also in the team was Javelin star Julius Yego, who applauded the NOC-K for setting Team Kenya’s base in Miramas, which will help the athletes acclimatize since it will be the same hot conditions they will face in Paris during the Games.
The journey was good, we enjoyed the flight, for now we are going to rest then we start training tomorrow. NOCK have done something that is very good because the training that we will get here in Miramas is ample, away from disturbance that we encounter while at home,” Yego, fondly known as the “YouTube man” said upon arrival at the airport.
He added, “I am delighted to be here in Miramas, it is my first time, the weather is good for training especially for sprinters, we thank God we are here because the preparations are one of a kind because what we asked for as athletes has been provided. We thank NOC-K for that, now what is left is us to work hard in training and focus on the Olympics.”
Otula acknowledged that this is the best prepared team to the Olympics and is confident Kenya will deliver at the Games that begins in 16 days.
“The journey to Miramas has been smooth, it is quite important for the team to have a Pre-Olympics camp because other than acclimatization, it is important for the youngsters to gel with the environment so that by the time we are getting to the games it is an environment that they are used to, so this is a good support from NOC-K,” Otula, the Kenya Basketball Federation boss said.
“This is the best prepared team to the best of my memory, you leave the rest to God, I am sure these youngsters will surprise the world,” he added.
NOC-K president Paul Tergat, who arrived later in the afternoon, called on the diaspora family living in France to come out in large numbers and support Team Kenya.
“The diaspora family living in France are our ambassadors this Olympics is once in four years, it is coming back to France after 100 years, therefore, we are encouraging everyone who lives not only in France but also within Europe to make sure that they come support our team and we will be very happy for that,” Tergat appealed.
On Miramas Pre-Olympics camp, the five-time world cross country champion said, “This is one thing one thing that we hope it will go on for many years because training camps before the Olympic games is very important. These games are usually held outside Africa and the time difference is huge, that is why we want to see our athletes acclimatize well, and for them to have the confidence and not like before when they would arrive just less than a week to competition, it affects the performance of athletes in a big way.”
Africa 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala, fresh from winning the Hengelo Continental Tour race, joined the camp Wednesday evening from Netherlands alongside his coach, Geoffrey Kimani.
The National Volleyball Team Malkia Strikers are set to arrive on Thursday morning well in time ahead of the official pre-camp opening ceremony party slated for the evening.
Already in camp are the National Men’s Sevens Team who were the first batch to arrive on Tuesday.