•The country has been dispatching athletes in batches with the last group leaving Nairobi on Monday evening.
•Team Kenya hoisted the national flag at the University of Birmingham to announce their presence.
Image: NOCK
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has urged the Kenyan contingent to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to display the country's prowess at the quadrennial global show.
Amina made the remarks during a dinner hosted for Team Kenya at the Millennium Point in Birmingham City on Wednesday night, where the Kenyan contingent painted the floor red.
“We’re excited to show the world what Kenya is made of Birmingham 2022. As we compete against 56 nations, let’s do it with honesty, integrity, and love. Just as the red affair in the room,” Amina said.
A video shared by the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) captures the CS exchanging pleasantries with ecstatic Kenyan athletes who merrily swarm her for selfies.
Kenya has deployed a potent contingent of 127 athletes who will fly the country's flag in 17 sports disciplines at the Games that started on Thursday and will run until August 8.
The 22nd edition of the global showpiece has attracted 5,054 competitors spread across 20 sports disciplines.
The national boxing team, Hit Squad, and their rugby counterparts, Shujaa, will open Kenya's medal hunt on Friday (today).
Team Kenya hoisted the national flag at the University of Birmingham to announce their presence. The institution will serve as the athletes' village for the entire duration of the event.
The country has been dispatching athletes in batches with the last group said to have left Nairobi on Monday evening.
Another group traveled from Oregon, the United States on Tuesday after the World Athletics Championships. They include world 5,000 metres silver medallist Jacob Krop, world 800m bronze medallist Mary Moraa, Nicholas Kimeli, and Daniel Simiu.
The men's World 800m champion Emmanuel Korir and women's 5000m silver medalist Beatrice Chebet are expected to spearhead Kenya's onslaught in Birmingham. Chebet's sublime form in Eugene left her coaches perplexed.
Chebet, 22, clocked a seasonal best time of 14:47.75 behind Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay to bag silver at the Hayward Field track on Sunday morning.
Local athletics enthusiasts are also closing their fingers that Africa 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala will shake off his disastrous outing at the Oregon22 championships to claim gold in Birmingham.
Kenya has attended sixteen Commonwealth Games, beginning in 1954 and missing only the 1986 Games.
The country has bagged 220 Commonwealth Games medals, mostly in athletics and boxing, with 34 coming from the 3000metres steeplechase.
Kenya's most momentous moment was at the 2010 Delhi Games, where the country plundered 32 medals including 12 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze.
During the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, Kenya won a total of 17 medals including four gold, seven silver and six bronze.