Kenya to send 132 athletes to Commonwealth

Kenya will be sending 132 sports men and women to next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Speaking after returning to Kenya from a fact- finding tour, Kenya’s Chef de Mission Barnabas Korir says athletics will have the largest number of participants with at least 65 athletes expected.

“Athletics will be followed by rugby because we will be going with both men and women teams. Boxing also requested for their quota to be increased so they will have 11 because they want to add the number of female boxers to four, and all other federations will send two participants each,” said Korir.

While in Australia, the Kenyan Chef de Mission, accompanied by the Kenyan High Commissioner to Australia, inspected various sporting zones where Kenyans will be competing and he is confident all will be well.

“They are currently installing furniture in the athletes’ village; almost all venues are ready except the weightlifting and power- lifting venues,” he said, adding: “Accreditation is ongoing and which will make sure all our sports men and officials get access easily to all areas. I believe they will enjoy what they’ll get there.”

He went on: “We are working hand-in-hand with all other departments, we don’t want a repeat of what happened in Rio, that’s why the NOCK president was in Oregon to inspect the ongoing kit preparation with Nike, which will give a detailed report on how the kits will be shared.”

Kenya will be aiming to improve on its performance in the 2014 Games in Scotland, where Team Kenya finished 9th with 25 medals; 10 gold, 10 silver and five bronze.