In Summary
After 11 days of thrilling action, the
curtain came down on the 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday.
Yet again, the Kenyan
team did the country proud by scooping 25 medals (10 gold, 10 silver and
five bronze) to finish a respectable ninth place and the third best
African country behind South Africa and Nigeria on the medal standings.
Although
the team’s total medal haul fell short of the 33 it attained four years
ago in New Delhi, India, there were some enchanting moments in Glasgow.
The
three clean sweeps in the women’s 10,000m and the 3,000m steeplechase —
for both men and women — were some of the highlights in Kenya’s stellar
performance.
There were also encouraging results in
boxing where Benson Gicharu won bronze, Kenya’s first medal at the games
in this discipline since 1994.
But perhaps it is
javelin thrower Julius Yego who saved the best for last with a fabulous
83.87m throw on Saturday night that capped a glorious day for Kenya as
the athletics programme concluded.
What is remarkable
about Yego’s achievement is that it came in a discipline that Kenya is
not known for, but also one that our athletics administrators have
continued to ignore even after Yego broke into the limelight a few years
ago.
Indeed, as we bask in the glory of our
world-beating athletes, let it not be forgotten that these achievements
have come despite, and not because, of the efforts of our sports
administrators — a case in point being the allowance fiasco that almost
derailed preparations.
There is no better time than now
for the National Olympics Committee of Kenya to address some hard
truths about administrative issues, and which way the country is heading
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