March 28 – Kenya have joined the list of African countries who claim that they are interested in bidding for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
The country’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga raised the possibility when he was visited by members of Brazilian football club Palmeiras, whose under-23 side are currently visiting Kenya to play a series of exhibition matches.
“No country in Africa has won more Olympic medals than Kenya so we have all the rights to host the Games and we are asking Brazil to support us,” said Odinga.
South Africa are already in the final stages of deciding whether to put forward a city for 2020 following the success of last year’s FIFA World Cup and earlier this month Morocco’s Sports Minister Moncef Belkhayat revealed that there were plans for Casablanca to bid for the Games in the near future.
Thanks to its a team of world-beating middle and long distance runners, Kenya has established itself as Africa’s most successful country in the Olympics.
Since making their debut in the Games at Melbourne in 1956, Kenya has won a total of 75 medals, 23 of them gold.
A remarkable 68 have been won in athletics with seven coming from boxing.
But an Olympic bid from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, must still be considered a long shot.
The city has made noises about trying to host the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games but a bid has never materialised.
There were also serious problems with preparations for last year’s African Athletics Championships in Nairobi.
The event had to be moved back so that Kenyan officials had more time to get ready.
Contact the writer of this story at duncan.mackay@insidethegames.biz
