Elias Makori
26 August 2008
Beijing — A little the worse for wear after the monotony of the Peking Duck and the otherwise delicious Chinese cuisine, Kenya's Olympics heroes and heroines got closer home on Monday night when the country's ambassador to China, Ruth Solitei, treated them to a more familiar ugali, nyama choma and sukuma wiki menu at a farewell-cum-congratulatory party at her Beijing residence.
The gallant Kenyan Olympians paraded their medals before the admiring ambassador who promised to work harder and fast-track sports exchange programmes between Kenya and China.
The victorious Kenyan team of athletes and officials arrives back home at 7.10pm on Wednesday aboard an Emirates Airlines flight that will transit through Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Women's marathon gold medal winner, Catherine Ndereba, left for her training base in the US on Tuesday but will almost immediately connect back to Nairobi in time for the ceremonial flag handing over ceremony that will see team captain and 800 metres gold medallist Wilfred Bungei hand back the national standard to president Mwai Kibaki at State House, Mombasa, on Friday.
Kenya's first men's marathon champion, Samuel Wanjiru, was also due to make a whirlwind tour of Japan before travelling to Mombasa, but his handlers changed his itinerary and the 21-year-old Toyota Kyushu runner, also the world half marathon record holder, will not arrive with the rest of the Kenyan team today.
"I'm elated, I don't know what to say in congratulating our gallant countrymen and women," ambassador Solitei said. "They have really done a lot in portraying a positive image of our country abroad."
Kenya won five gold medals, as many silver and four bronze in the nation's best ever performance at Olympics since the debut at the 1964 Games in Tokyo.
Kenya finished top among African nations and 15th overall on the medals table at the August 1 to 24 Beijing Olympics with the 14 medals, a better performance than much bigger economies like Canada (19th), Poland (20th), Norway (21st), Brazil (23th), New Zealand (26th), Switzerland (34th) and even Denmark (30th).
And coming hot on the heels of predictions that Kenya would perform poorly due to effects of the post-election impasse, the performance in Beijing was the more sweeter.
"This goes to show that we, as Kenyans, are able to sort out our own problems and move on," Solitei said. "The athletes have hit the ground running, literary, and have been our great ambassadors in Beijing."
The ambassador said she had already launched talks with the Chinese government regarding sports exchange programmes that would benefit both countries.
"The Chinese have a lot to learn from our athletics training methods and we also have a great deal to learn from their sports success. We are already talking and we hope to implement some of the ideas we have soon," the Kenyan envoy said.
Currently, there are close to 100 Kenyan students in China with a number of Chinese students also taking up programmes in Kenya.David Okeyo, the head of the Kenyan delegation to Beijing, thanked the ambassador for her gesture, saying such support motivated the athletes to perform.
"We have received overwhelming support from the government, corporate organisations and individuals and it is these actions that have spurred our athletes on to their performances at the Olympics," said Okeyo, also Athletics Kenya's secretary general.
"We are also very grateful to the Kenyan embassy in Beijing and ambassador Solitei for the overwhelming support their have given us throughout our stay in China for the Olympics."
Kenya's medallists at the highly successful Beijing Games were: Gold - Samuel Wanjiru (marathon), Wilfred Bungei (800m), Nancy Jebet Lagat (1,500m), Brimin Kipruto (3,000m steeplechase), Pamela Jelimo (800m); silver - Catherine Ndereba (marathon), Eunice Jepkorir (3,000m steeplechase), Janeth Jepkosgei (800m), Asbel Kiprop (1,500m), Eliud Kipchoge (5,000m) and bronze - Richard Matelong (3,000m steeplechase), Edwin Soi (5,000m), Alfred Kirwa Yego (800m) and Micah Kogo (10,000m).
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