Let’s nurture talents

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) and its affiliates must cash on the success from the just-concluded 2026 Dakar Youth Olympics to build a strong Team Kenya in individual and team events for future events.

Kenya finished eighth in the medal standings with six medals, four gold and two silver (4-2-) in the fourth edition of the Games where Egypt (6-1-5) was the best African country in fourth place, followed by Ethiopia (5-3-0) and Senegal (5-0-7) in fifth and sixth places respectively.

China topped with 33 medals; 18 gold, eight silver and seven bronze. Kenya’s outing was marked with slight improvement from the 2018 Games in, Argentina where the country bagged three gold and a silver to finish 27th overall.

What was unique and inspiring is that for the first time, the country secured team victory at any Commonwealth or Olympic Games with the Rising Lionesses winning gold medal in women’s sevens rugby, stunning powerhouse Australia 17-12 in the final.

The baseball team also missed claiming bronze by a whisker when they lost to Mexico 2-1 in the play-off in the Games where athletics once again was the main source for the medals.

Enock Tuitoek and Faith Rono won gold in men’s and women’s 3,000m respectively with Abigael Kosgei claiming victory in women’s 2,000m steeplechase.

The performance by the Rising Lionesses and baseball team is an indicator that the country can perform well in team events with good investment in talent identification, nurturing, empowerment and protection.

Doping, especially in athletics, is becoming a concern where these talented youngsters need protection.

Team Kenya’s success should be a collective responsibility where NOC-K and the sports federation must work in sync in the development process to ensure there is continuity as we target the 2028 Los Angeles, USA and 2032 Brisbane, Australia Olympic Games.

If well nurtured, players in the Rising Lionesses and Baseball team, will be ripe enough to win medals at the 2032 Brisbane Games and beyond.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.