Team Kenya’s predicament at the 2016 Rio Olympics sank to a new law after they were forced to vacate the Olympic Games Village to pave way for Paralympic teams.
This saw the athletes hauled to a hotel more than 45km outside the city.
Team captain Wesley Korir, on his Facebook page posted pictures of backstreet structures and boxer Rayton Okwiri and 800m bronze medallist Margaret Nyairera sharing a meal.
Alongside the photos, he wrote: “The best country in the world will spend their night in this ‘slum’ like area in Rio after the Olympic village was closed! Unbelievable mistreatment of athletes!
Kenyans sent their messages to comfort the runner asking how they arrived at such a residence.
He answered: “There is a timeline of how long people can stay in the village and it is up to the ministry and the National Olympic Committee to find the athletes another place.”
Another athlete, who sought anonymity added: “This place is terrible to say the least. The food here is pathetic and sanitation very poor. We are even fearful of contracting cholera.”
The runner added: “There are a lot of mosquitoes here and the hotel could not even provide us with nets. We couldn’t sleep. One room is being shared by up to four people with just a small bathroom.”
“In addition, the sound of gun shots rent the air overnight and we couldn’t believe it. We are way off the town centre. It’s like we are in the wildnerness, very hilly with slums all over. You cannot see the residents during the day. It is a crime hot spot.”
Nock secretary general FK Paul blamed the ministry of sports for the latest development saying: “It was the responsibility of the government to get the athletes a flight back on time. They knew the games were ending on August 21, the Olympic Village was to close on August 25 and still went on to book the flights for August 26.”