Ayimba going for nothing less than Olympics gold

Ayimba going for nothing less than Olympics gold

The national rugby sevens coach Benjamin Ayimba believes his team can win gold medal in the Rio Olympics later in August.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, the coach who led Kenya to the semi finals of the 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup said the successful season they had in the HSBC World Series; finishing seventh with 98 points will be a boost for the team in Brazil.

“We made history in Singapore in the HSBC World Series and the same can be repeated in the Olympics in Brazil. We know the weather conditions in Brazil are harsh but we will give our best to win gold in Rio.”

“We have defeated big teams in the past and this shows how strong my team is, so in the August Games the sky will be our limit. We are going for not less than the gold medal in Rio,” Ayimba charged.

Having already rested for two weeks the team will enter camp in Nandi in two weeks time for their preparations where they will focus on rectifying the mistakes they made in the past competitions.

“We choose Nandi over Nairobi because the place is more peaceful, there are no distractions and the players will have more time to stay and train together,” he explained.

“Every player in the provision squad has a chance to make it to the final team for Olympics and no player is special than the other in the squad, so hard work and determination will matter a lot in the selection of the final squad.”

Alvin Ochieng Otieno who was in the team that won the Singapore 7s in Asia, supported his coach and promised to work harder to become part of the first team sport from Kenya to win gold at the quadrennial showpiece.

“I have to work harder personally to get a place in the final squad having made it in the provision squad that will enter camp in Nandi.

“Team work is the key to success, so I want to take this opportunity to ask my team mates to have that notion in their mind before we enter camp,” he added.

Shujaa qualified for Rio after defeating Zimbabwe in the finals of the Africa Olympics qualifiers in South Africa.

The late boxer, Robert Wangila Napunyi is the only other sportsperson to bring Kenya Olympics gold outside athletics with hockey and women’s volleyball the only other national teams to have qualified for the Summer Games in the country’s history.

Tags:

olympics Benjamin Ayimba rugby 7s Rio 2016 Alvin Otieno

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