The Kenyan team of junior athletes undergoing a month-long training camp in the French city of Miramas have been tipped to leave a positive influence on the local community.
Marine Pustorino, the Municipal Councilor of Marseille Departmental Councilor of Bouches-du-Rhône, said teenagers and youngsters in the local community stand to gain a lot from interacting with the 11 sprinters.
"During their free time, these athletes will be able to discover our beautiful Provence. But they will also include schools in their workouts. A real chance for our little ones who will discover from these great athletes the values of Olympism," Pustorino said.
While welcoming the Kenyan contingent to the city on Monday, Pustorino expressed hope that their visitors will harness the best of what their world-class facilities offer.
"We are very proud to welcome the Kenya U20 athletics team in this magnificent equipment at the Games Preparation Center. In our department, there are 30 Games Preparation Centers, representing 29 Olympic and Paralympic disciplines and distributed to 10 municipalities," she said.
The training camp is the product of a collaboration between Athletics Kenya and Miramas Athletics Club where the Kenyan sprinters will train at Miramas Stadium to sharpen themselves ahead of August's World Under 20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Making the revelation last month, AK director of youth development Barnaba Korir said the juniors will also compete against their French peers in local competitions in an effort to improve on their qualifying time for the championship.
At the same time, coach Perpetua Mbutu, who is part of the team, says she is so far impressed by the state of facilities and the strategies in place for the camp.
" Today (Monday) we had two sessions, tailor-made for particular athletes, one in the morning and another in the evening, and I think that is how it is going to be during the period we are here," Mbutu said.
She added: "I must say the coaches are extremely friendly and they have adopted an open-door policy where the athletes can seek clarification at all times. The athletes were taken through what to expect while in camp."
TEAM
WOMEN: Sylvia Chelangat (400m); Mercy Chebet (200m/100m); Winny Chepng’etich (triple jump); and Judy Kemunto (400m)
MEN: Peter Kithome (400m); Elkanah Kiprotich (400m); Meshack Baraka (400mh/110h); Jonathan Mutua (200m); Dominic Kipkorir (shot put); Alex Njeru (200m); and Reynold Kipkorir (800m)
COACHES: Andrew Maritim and Perpetua Mbutu
