The National Olympic Committee of Kenya will establish a high performance centre to enable sportspersons better prepare for major competitions.
The centre will be developed according to Olympic standards to provide high-level services to all users.
“Among the services envisioned to be provided are: physiological testing and monitoring; performance analysis; biomechanical assessment; strength and conditioning; psychological testing and conditioning and scientific, individualised training programmes,” NOC-K secretary general Francis Mutuku said in a press statement.
Plans are already in high gear to develop the performance centre with the aim of preparing Kenyan participants at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“The short term approach will be to enter into partnerships with facilities which can be used by NOC-K for training of the Olympics team. These can be either institutional or private facilities meeting the requisite standards as advised by our Elite Performance Team,” Mutuku said.
However, NOC-K plans to eventually develop its own high performance centre.
“NOC-K will encourage and support all our national teams and especially the Olympics-bound athletes to be under a high performance environment. The centre will be a multifunctional and multi-disciplinary facility,” Mutuku said.
In addition to the high performance centre, NOC-K will also establish the Olympafrica Youth Centre to tap and nurture talents in various disciplines at a young age.
"The centre will be established in a highly populous area in order to take in as many youngsters as possible. The vision of the centre is to have selected sporting infrastructure including international standards equipment for identified sports so that the youngsters can be trained on a continued basis," NOC-K said.
The centre, to be developed in partnership with the International Olympic Committee, consists of social, sporting and cultural components.
Among the features of the centre are a youth centre (e.g. playhouse, library, classrooms); literacy and basic education centre; community development centre; and a medical post.
The multi-complex centre will be developed in conjunction with Olympafrica Foundation as a form of social development through sports.
Should the two visions come to reality, Kenya would follow in the footsteps of developed economies that have been successful in producing young talents who are all-rounded technically and psychologically in their respective disciplines.
With the exception of athletics, many Kenyan sportspeople have faltered at international competitions due to better preparations by their opponents who have accessed modern technologies for their training regimes.
