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Kenya to spend 3 million dollars to back up athletes for Rio Games

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya plans to spend 3.3 million U.S. dollars to prepare a team to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The President of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), Kipchoge Keino, said Friday night that the association will provide the necessary back-up to ensure that many athletes qualify in disciplines across the board for the games.

"We are aware that to reach where we are, our athletes sacrifice a lot and invest a lot of their time in training and as NOCK, we do not take that for granted because we are aware many countries would love to be where we are right now," Keino said in Nairobi.

He made the remarks during the occasion to reward top achievers in 2014 who excelled in Olympic sports during the season.

The inaugural awards ceremony, which will become an annual event, recognized all the sportspersons who excelled in Olympic sports and will not primarily be subject to actual staging of the summer games, but will honor any achievements in a sport within the jurisdiction of the Olympics committee.

More than 20 achievers of 2014, ranging from athletes to coaches and federations, were feted to encourage excellence ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Keino said Kenya is endowed with talent which should not go to waste.

"I challenge sports federations to provide effective leadership to their organizations to help produce results and create sound and credible governance structures," Keino remarked, adding that NOCK has a huge task of raising funds to ensure Kenya is represented across the board.

"Last year, I observed major improvements not only in athletics which has been our stronghold, but also other events. That is why today we are presenting awards to many other disciplines besides the runners," he said.

Ndungu Gathinji, NOCK's Marketing and Fundraising Commission Chairman, said the organization has an almost herculean task of having to raise a lot more money to meet expenses on the Kenyan team to Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Endi