Peter Ng'etich
27 August 2008
Nairobi — The last batch of Kenya's athletes who did duty for the country at the Beijing Olympics arrived home Wednesday night to a raptous welcome.
Thousands of family members and the general public turned up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to welcome their heroes and heroines.
However, not all the athletes returned with the team as some proceeded to Europe for some Grand Prix races. Olympics 800 metres champion Pamela Jelimo is in Zurich for Friday's IAAF Golden League race.
Rhoda Cheptoo, Jelimo's mother, was not at the airport on Wednesday.
Jelimo is in the race for the Sh66 million golden jackpot. She has to win the two last two races of the Golden League series to win the prize.
Philip Chepkwony, the father of Olympics steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto, also did not travel to JKIA on Wednesday.
Chepkwony said his son would land in Nairobi and head to Mombasa to meet President Mwai Kibaki.
"As a family, we weighed the options and decided to welcome him after he has finished with the Head of State in Mombasa," he said.
Chepkwony said a committee had been formed at home to give Kipruto a worthy welcome at his Kuinet home in Uasin Gishu District.
At the same time, Kenya Pipeline Company Limited has donated Sh1.4 million to be shared by the 14 medal winners.
The money, the equivalent of Sh100,000 per medal winner, will be handed over to the athletes by the President in State House Mombasa on Friday.
The KPC managing director, George Okungu, said the board of directors approved the amount in appreciation of the superb performance by the team in Beijing.
"The team showed the entire world that Kenya still is a real powerhouse in the sporting arena by outsmarting the very best of the world to emerge top in the continent," he said.
Okungu said KPC was proud to be associated with the team's success.
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