We simply didn't prepare well enough. We needed to traverse the world a little more. Doing so would have afforded us an opportunity to get exposed to different techniques employed in different parts of the world
What started as an ambitious expedition to exorcise the ghosts that have haunted Kenya and denied the national boxing team an Olympic medal since 1998, turned out to be another heart-wrenching experience.
After heaving our hopes to the ceiling with pledges of bagging the elusive medals at the Tokyo Games, the Hit Squad will be returning home with an empty basket.
The nation had pegged all hopes on the quartet of Nick Okoth, Christine Ongare, Elly Ajowi and Elizabeth Akinyi to replicate — perhaps even emulate — the Seoul Olympics fete that saw the late Modest Napunyi Wangila bag a gold medal.
However, it was not to be as the team registered the all-too-familiar pattern of losing in the preliminaries.
Signs that all would not be well began with the 'Commander' of the troops Okoth breaking down after he was floored in his opening bout by a pugilist 14 years younger.
Apparently, Okoth had set the stage for a string of subsequent humiliations given Ongare, Ajowi and Akinyi all ended up being gunned down on the battlefield.
Back to the drawing board. The national team have never won a medal since 1998. Prior to the historic Seoul conquest, the Hit Squad had registered some sparks of brilliance in the previous years.
So, where did the rain start beating us?
Unlike Okoth, who was swift to place his debacle at the feet of biased officiating, Ongare chose to take the bull by its horns.
“We simply didn't prepare well enough. We needed to traverse the world a little more. Doing so would have afforded us an opportunity to get exposed to different techniques employed in different parts of the world,” Ongare said.
“We realised each continent has different approaches and techniques. African boxers fight almost the same way and that's why we managed qualification slots and some medals from Kinshasa.
“We began sensing danger at the invitational tournament in Russia where we experienced a lot of difficulties with our opponents who appeared to have a far much different boxing style from ours.”
Prior to the squad's departure, head coach Benjamin Musa had expressed a desire to expose his charges to at least two more tournaments to smooth out the rough edges.
His assistant Dave Munuhe pointed out the situation had been made worse by the suspension of sports activities in the country in an effort to curb Covid-19 infections.
