The Safaricom national deaf athletics championships start at the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret today.
Title sponsor Safaricom has committed Sh2.5m towards the two-day event, which the Deaf Athletics Association of Kenya (DAAK) will use to select the team that will represent Kenya at the 2017 Deaflympics Games from 18–30 in Turkey.
The trials will feature track and field activities such as the high jump, pole vault, long and triple jump, hammer, javelin and discus. Other events will include the 4x100 relay, 4X400 relay, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m races. “We have a great number of talented deaf athletes but because we can’t take them all to Turkey, we plan to use this event to select the best among them. We expect to select a very strong team of 35 young men and women that will help us cement our position as the best in Africa and among the top in the world, so we’re looking forward to a formidable showing by the athletes,” said Bernard Banja, secretary general, DAAK.
During the 2013 Deaflympic Games held in Sofia, Bulgaria, Team Kenya raked in 17 medals (6 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze) to emerge top in Africa and eighth out of 72 countries. Crowd favourites including Simon Kibai, Beryl Atieno and Daniel Kiptum are expected to defend their titles and earn slots in this year’s team, with a few relatively new names such as Rebecca Matiko, Timina Barasa and David Wamira and also expected to compete for the coveted spots.
This will be the second event in the 2017 Safaricom Athletics Series, which was launched earlier this week and will be sponsored by the telecommunications firm at a cost of Sh65 million. “Our sponsorship of the National Deaf Athletics Championships has opened our eyes to the opportunities present to support our deaf athletes, who have emerged as a force to be reckoned with both at home and abroad,” said Steve Okeyo, Safaricom director for regional sales and operations.
“We are pleased to see that our vision of transforming lives through sports is coming alive through the athletes with the likes of 5,000m world record holder Simon Kibai proving that there are opportunities for other young athletes to excel and build careers out of their athletic talents,” said Okeyo.
The Safaricom Athletics Series will feature a line-up of nine long distance races and three track and field events, bringing the total to 12 events this year.