National Olympics Committee of Kenya targets at least 118 sportsmen and women to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics set for August in Brazil.
Already 96 athletes have already qualified for the Rio extravaganza.
Together with 76 primary team officials, NOC-K has a budget of Sh633m and has once again partnered with Tusker to raise funds for Team Kenya. Tusker, who last August donated Sh21m to NOC-K for the preparation and qualification tournaments for teams, launched a campaign to rally Kenyans towards supporting Team Kenya to the Rio Olympics financially.
Chef de Mission of the Rio-bound Team Kenya Stephen Soi, said the government will foot 60 per cent (Sh379.8m) of the total budget while the NOC-K and its partners will cater for the remainder. Soi said Team Kenya predicted a good outing for Kenya in Rio. Rio-bound teams will report to training on June 20 for intense and strategic preparations ahead of the Olympic games
The beer brand launched Tusker Gold limited edition on Monday in line with Kenya’s goal- to win gold in their respective disciplines. A shilling from each bottle sold will be channeled to the Team Kenya kitty.
“Part of the proceeds from the sale of this Tusker Gold Edition will go towards supporting Team Kenya’s Preparations for the Olympics,” said Jane Karuku, the managing director of Kenya Breweries Limited. Meanwhile, Willy Ambaka, Ezekiel Kemboi, Julius Yego, Collins Injera and Kipchege Keino (NOC-K president) are the ambassadors of Tusker’s ‘Twende Rio’ campaign.
