Hit Squad head coach Benjamin Musa has unveiled a six-member Team Kenya for the 2024 Paris Olympics slots at the upcoming repechages in Italy and Thailand.
The seasoned gaffer selected three men and three women to battle for the slots from an initial provisional squad of 10 boxers.
Hit Squad captain Boniface Mugunde, who will fly the country’s flag in the middleweight division headlines the men’s lineup that also has flyweight David Karanja and featherweight Shaffi Bakari.
The women’s team boasts the experienced trio of light-flyweight Christine Ongare, welterweight Trizah Anyango and middleweight Elizabeth Andiego, who will deputise Mugunde.
The team will jet out to Bursto Assizio, Italy on Wednesday for the first repechage between March 4 and 11.
“We have been training for the events since last year at the Mathare Depot and I’m convinced we are now in a position to seal some slots if we put in extra work,” Musa remarked.
The event in Italy will feature male and female boxers from across the world, with 59 spots available at Paris 2024.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will manage the tournament, which is officially known as the ‘1st World Qualification Tournament’.
It is Kenya’s second opportunity to qualify for the Africa Olympics, following the previous qualifier in Dakar, Senegal, where none of the country’s boxers was successful.
The boxers’ third and last chance to qualify for Paris will be in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 26–June 2.
Musa, who will be assisted by Kenya Police Boxing Club head coach Dave Munuhe, said they had a tough time settling on the final list.
“We used the profile of the boxers and their overall performance from the last five national boxing legs,” Musa remarked.
“We considered the level of seriousness displayed by the boxers in training. There are boxers known to sit back after securing national team call-ups, and their conduct only serves to compromise the team’s competitiveness,” he added.
Musa lavished praise on the government and the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) for facilitating the team’s participation in both repechages.
He urged his charges to take advantage of the opportunities in Italy and Thailand to punch as many tickets as possible for Paris Games.
