“Dakar offers Kenya an opportunity to strengthen the pipeline of women athletes in several sports,” National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) Secretary General John Ogolla told Olympics.com earlier this week, on the constitution of Kenya’s 54-member team.
“This is important not only for performance, but also for inspiration,” he added. “When young Kenyans girls see other Kenyan women competing confidently on the international stage – in rugby, boxing, swimming, cycling and other disciplines – they see what is possible. That is how sporting legacies are built.”
Among the nations presenting one of the largest squads at the fourth Youth Olympic Games, Kenya, will have representation in a variety of sports including: athletics, cycling, rugby, triathlon, fencing, beach wrestling, baseball5, judo, beach handball, triathlon, wushu taolu (which is labelled a competitive performance discipline of modern Chinese martial arts), swimming, and 3×3 basketball.
A focus on the long-term goal of increasing and strengthening the pathway to future Olympic Games, appears to address the need for such diversification.
“Kenya’s sporting story has been built on extraordinary success in athletics, but the future presents an opportunity to build on that success,” Ogolla said. “There is talent in swimming pools, boxing rings, cycling tracks, beaches and courts across the country. The challenge is to identify that talent early.”
By participating frequently at different editions of the Youth Olympic Games, Kenya hopes it will offer young athletes a chance to hone their skills, build confidence, and benefit largely on their sporting journeys, especially with the LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics around the corner.
“Dakar is not simply a competition for Team Kenya’s young athletes. It is part of their education as future elite athletes; an investment in a generation,” Ogolla added. “The goal is not to move away from athletics. It is to build more pathways alongside athletics and create a stronger, more diverse sporting nation.
Another reason why Dakar is important for us, is because a few outstanding athletes from Dakar could make the transition into senior competition and begin their journey towards Olympic qualification for LA.”
