•Besides our athletes, the Kenya Rugby Sevens team, Shujaa, will also be battling for honours after surmounting a vicious challenge to beat the more fancied South African team 17-12 in a thrilling final held in Harare last September.
•Also hoisting the Kenyan flag at the Paris Olympics will be the 10-time African women’s volleyball Champion Malkia Strikers.
Image: CAVB
The year has just begun and the Kenyan sports terrain looks set up for unprecedented greatness.
Athletics Kenya (AK) kicked off their 2024 calendar in earnest with the third track and field event at the Ulinzi Complex in Nairobi over the weekend, where a stellar lineup of local athletes battled for national honours.
The athletes were also eyeing the coveted slots in the national team ahead of major global championships.
Kenya is expected to field teams at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games set for July 26–August 11.
Besides our athletes, the Kenya Rugby Sevens team, Shujaa, will also be battling for honours after surmounting a vicious challenge to beat the more fancied South African team 17-12 in a thrilling final held in Harare last September.
Also hoisting the Kenyan flag at the Paris Olympics will be the 10-time African women’s volleyball Champion Malkia Strikers.
The gallant national women’s volleyball team thrashed Egypt 3-0 in a scintillating showdown staged in Yaoundé, Cameroon, a day after putting to the sword hosts Cameroon 3-1 in the semi-final. The triumph brought an end to their eight-year wait.
What is even more interesting is that sensational youngster Sharon Chepchumba will be featuring in her second Olympic Games, aged only 26.
However, Malkia are expected to grace two crucial competitions before their trip to the French capital. They will be defending their title at the African Games in Accra, Ghana in March.
The men’s team, Wafalme Stars, will strive to punch a ticket to the African Games from the Zone Five qualifiers. Both the men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams will be vying for the Paris Olympics slots at the CAVB Continental Cup.
The local clubs will battle for a chance to grace the FIVB Club World Championship in December at this year’s CAVB Africa Clubs Championship, where they will seek to reclaim the continental title which was last won by KCB in 2022.
The East African sports powerhouse is similarly expected to deploy a contingent to the World Athletics Indoor Championships, slated for March 1–3 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Kenya will also be eyeing honours at the World Cross Country Championships scheduled for March 30 in Belgrade, Serbia, where Beatrice Chebet could defend the title she clinched in Bathurst, Australia last year.
The World Athletics Relay Championships is scheduled for May 4 to 5 in Nassau, Bahamas, and the World Athletics Under-20 Championships on August 26 to 31 in Lima, Peru.
There will be similar interest in the forthcoming African Games set for March 8 to 23 in Accra, Ghana. The men’s national football team, Harambee Stars, will also be resuming action this March with sights firmly trained on punching a maiden ticket to the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
They are set to travel to Banjul for their away match against Gambia before their encounter against East African rivals Burundi at a venue that is yet to be confirmed, but most probably in Nairobi.
The Kenya Under-20 boys and girls national teams will be making a trip to Spain for a series of build-up matches at the Nastic Soccer Academy in March.
The team largely comprises players who were identified during the inaugural edition of the government-sponsored Talanta Hela Under-19 football tournament which concluded in December.