MIRAMAS, France, Jul 9 – 2024
The national men’s sevens team are the first batch to arrive in Miramas for a two-week boot camp ahead of the Paris 2024 Games set to start July 26 in the French capital.
The team of 12 players and three officials touched down at the Marseille Provence International Airport 12:45pm local time and were warmly received by National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Deputy Treasurer, John Ogolla before taking a 45 minute drive to the team hotel located in the City of Fos-sur-Mer.
Speaking upon arrival, Shujaa player Chrisant Ojwang’, who is among the many of the players making the Olympics debutant, says he is feeling emotional since the reality of achieving the Olympics dream has finally checked in.
“It’s been a long flight, but we are happy that we have landed safely, everything went as planned and we are good to go. Now we need to recollect as a team, we know the expectations are high and for us a medal finish will be great, it is possible because we have trained well, so it is just a matter of execution,”
He added, “we are excited to arrive in Miramas but very emotional, the problem is something must proceed the emotions, there is pressure to perform and good thing is being in Miramas away from home will help us focus on our target.”
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On his part, Andrew Amonde, the Strength and Conditioning coach outlined that Miramas is very crucial to the team because it will enable the team to have ample preparations as it is the final phase of training.
“There is a lot to expect from these boys, they have prepared well, we have been supported by NOC-K, Tusker, Kenya Rugby, all the motivation has been given to these boys and the biggest thing for them is to prepare well do their final preparation here in Miramas and go to the Olympics in Paris and do the business,” Amonde, the two-time Olympian stated.
“It is not easy the boys have been putting in a lot of effort throughout the journey, the sacrifices they made, being away from their families, this is the time that they need to bring their heads together and get something out of it because it will be a big deal for them and it is possible, the few days we are in Miramas is to make sure we correct everything and put them in the mindset to go and perform,” Amonde, the former Kenya 7s player said.
Ogolla outlined that the National Olympic Committee of Kenya has given the team ample preparations and the pre-Olympics camp is important for the purposes of acclimatization.
“Everything is set, this being the last part of preparations before the Games, as NOC-K with all the stakeholders we have done the much we could. The support we have gotten from the government and the sponsors, we have prepared this team in a way that has never been done before, the morale is high, the technical support from various experts which I believe has really helped the teams prepare well, now Miramas being the last phase of preparations we need to make sure that the focus is there all they need is provided for so that they can be able to perform as expected,”
“Acclimatization is key in preparations, training away from home you avoid a lot pf destruction, it makes the team concentrate on training.”
Shujaa will take a two-day rest to shake off the jet lag before embarking on an intensified training.
The official opening of the Team Kenya Miramas camp will be on Friday, July 12 attended by dignitaries among them the Mayor of Miramas, Frederic Vigouroux and NOC-K boss Paul Tergat.
Kenya open her campaign on July 24 at the Stade de France against Argentina, before taking on Australia and finish off Pool B against Samoa.