Mercy Gakii
19 September 2008
Nairobi — Kenya will partner with China to set up a sports training centre for the disabled, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said on Friday.
The centre will enhance Kenya's participation in international competition, Raila said while welcoming back Kenya's team to the Beijing Paralympic Games.
The team of 13 athletes and five guide runners arrived back home at 1 pm on Friday after finishing 27th overall and third in Africa behind South Africa and Tunisia.
Kenya won five gold medals, three silver and one bronze. Distance runner Henry Kirwa won three gold medals with Abraham Tarbei bagging two.
The silvers came from Mary Nakhumicha (javelin), Francis Thuo (5,000m) and Samuel Muchai (1,500m) while team captain Henry Wanyoike won the bronze in the 5,000m.
Wanyoike did not return with the rest of the team on Friday as he travelled for the Singapore Marathon.
Also on hand to welcome the athletes back were sports minister Hellen Sambili and her assistant Kabando wa Kabando.
Another assistant minister in the ministry, Wavinya Ndeti, who travelled with the team, also urged the government to take up the offer that was made by the National Olympic Committee of Turkey to provide sports wheel chairs for the national team.
Ndeti said Turkey promised match the number of chairs the Kenyan government would buy for the team.
The Kenyan team complained about classification of competitors with varying disabilities which found athletes with partial visual disabilities grouped together with those who are completely blind.
According to the head coach, James Vergo, the team would have brought home more medals had it not been for this mix-up.
"If only our runners had been grouped in categories that they were in during the Paralympics in Athens, I'm sure the medal tally would have been much higher," Vergo said.
But he was quite impressed with the team's performance compared to previous years.
Going by the number of medals won and considering they came from a lean squad of just 13 athletes, Kenya was definitely among the best placed teams in the world.
Gold medallists will receive up to Sh2.25 million, silver medallists will get Sh1.75 million while the bronze medallist will receive Sh600,000 at a Presidential ceremony on Saturday.
Tarbei, who brought home two gold medals in world record triumphs, said proper training both at home and in Beijing contributed to the success.
"My breaking the world records came as a pleasant surprise, and I can only be too grateful," Tarbei said.
Nakhumicha missed the gold medal by a whisker when the doctors identified her as competent to compete in the A57 category in the javelin throw.
"I'm happy with the plan to reward us for our efforts. This will be the first time for me to receive this cash prize and it will boost me very much," said Nakhumicha.
For Kirwa, credit went to teamwork and the high morale of the athletes.
"I did not expect to break any records, although I knew that with the intense training that I had undergone in Eldoret, I would win a gold medal. Now I can't explain my joy at winning three," beamed a satisfied Kirwa. He plans to use the prize money for farming and business.
The team was hosted to lunch at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport yesterday before entering the city centre in a convoy of cars and buses.
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