Sammy Kitula
23 October 2007
Nairobi — Kenya's team to the World Military Games returned home yesterday to a low-key reception.
The arrival of the 43-member team from Hyderabad, India, went unnoticed and was devoid of the usual flair associated with arrival of national teams, despite their positive improvement at the games.
Kenya finished sixth, to better their last event's seventh position, with Russia and China finishing in the first and second positions, with a medal tally of 96 and 71 respectively. The Chief de Mission, Brigadier Humphrey Khisa, said this was a better performance compared with the last one.
"By winning five gold, it took us to the top in athletics and helped us underline our dominance in athletics," said Khisa.
Reigned supreme
The Kenyans scooped 12 medals with 5 being gold. This was the first time in Kenya's history for the military team to win such a big haul of medals. Out of the 13 events the country competed in, it won a haul of 12 medals: 5 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze to beat Russia and Poland to second and third slot respectively in athletics.
The Kenyan athletes once again reigned supreme in the middle and long distance races, with Mark Kiptoo bagging a gold in 5,000m and settled for a silver in the 10,000m.
Defending champion in the 10,000m men race, John Korir put the icing on the cake, after a frustrating season with victory in the 10,000m race, edging out compatriot Mark Kiptoo for the silver while Adam Nessa of Bahrain won the bronze.
Korir, who failed to make the Kenyan team to Osaka, will have something to look forward to after a good performance in India and said he's now focused to improving on his performance. "I'm happy to have won gold at the games, having failed to make the Osaka team. It was a good race and Kiptoo was a real challenge," said Korir.
Once again, it was a lacklustre performance from the boxing team, failing to make to the knockout stages, with featherweight David Munyasia, who was the only surviving member in the six-man team, retired in the second round with a shoulder injury. Munyasia, a former All Africa Military Games gold medalist, got injured in his pre-quarter final bout against Umarov Abgugaffor of Azebeijan in round two when he was ahead 5-1. The title has eluded Kenyan boxers for a long time, the last notable performance being back in 2005, where Fredrick Orieyo managed silver at the global games.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
