Three winter athletes arrived in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea yesterday for a 12-day Dream Program that will run from January 6 to 18th.
Chebet Njeri Koech, 12, Chumbana Likiza Muhusini, 15 and Hassnein Ali Shah, 13, are accompanied by Mombasa-based roller skating coach Asa Nyariki.
The quarter were joined by 27 -year-old winter para-skier Daniel Safari who will be the team’s mentor for the subsequent editions. Njeri, Likiza and Ali were selected through a competitive process in November last year and received full scholarships to attend the Dream Program.
The young athletes practice roller skating and have recently been introduced to ice skating, which they practice at Panari Sky Centre.
Safari, now a professional alpine skier training in Utah, United States, has been a beneficiary of the Program. He hopes to qualify as the first Paralympic skier to represent Kenya in the upcoming Beijing Winter Paralympic Games 2022.
The Dream Program, which is a legacy program of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018, seeks to nurture young winter sports talents who can represent their countries in Winter Sports in the future.
The program aims at introducing these athletes to Winter Sports and mentoring them through the process of becoming competitive athletes.
The Program includes an elaborate training camp in alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, bobsled, short track, speed skating and figure skating. There will also be cultural exchange programs and site visits.
Acting secretary general, Francis Mutuku, said the National Olympic Committee will be rolling out more similar programs throughout the year towards building the country’s capacity and diversity in future Games.
