Having powered Kenya Sevens main team Shujaa to the Safari Sevens title last month where he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable player, Alvin ‘Buffa’ Otieno has been named Kenya’s best sposrtsperson for the month of October.
The award was handed over to the ‘power bully’ by the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) and their sponsors LG.
Otieno’s performance at the Nyayo National Stadium over the two days of the returning Safari Sevens was enough to convince SJAK’s panel that he was the best of the lot across all sports.
“I am short of words, very happy about this award. It’s been good to me more so after recovering from injury and seeing my game improve through and through. The sky’s the limit for now and I also urge all players to keep going and aim higher in sport,” said the Kenya Sevens star as he received his award.
Alvin Otieno all smiles with his reward
For his troubles, Otieno was awarded with a crisp UHD LG 55-inch smart TV worth Sh105,000.
Otieno, an alumnus of the Kakamega High School has had a good recent spell and has made a step in his career by switching clubs, joining KCB RFC from Homeboyz on a one year deal.
To win the coveted monthly award, Buffa beat top nominees among them rally driver Carl Tundo who led compatriots Karan Patel and McRae Kimathi to a podium finish during the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally to seal the African Rally Championship (ARC).
Athlete Joyce Njeru who won the overall women’s World Mountain Racing Association (WMRA) World Cup title in Italy in the same month was also in contention.
Also nominated were Elisha Rotich who won the Paris Marathon in 2:04:18 and broke Kenenisa Bekele’s course record from 2014, Angela Tanui who won the Amsterdam Marathon in a course record of 2:17:51.
ALvin Otieno is congratulated by Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu and captain Nelson Oyoo
The list also included Joyceline Jepkosgei who won the London Marathon in 2:17:43 which is the seventh fastest on the all-time list, Diana Kipyegoi and Benson Kipruto who won the women and men’s race at the Boston Marathon.
Also making the nomination list was Ulinzi Warrior’s Byron Mabonga who was instrumental in the side’s win against Cobra Sport of South Sudan to qualify for the Elite 16 in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers.
Otieno now hopes the award can inspire him to do even better this season and says he will not let the recent fame and attention get to his head.
“For sure for me this is a n indication that I should work harder. Being the best is easy but remaining there is where the hard work is. I will keep working hard and keep breaking the barriers,” said Otieno, currently a crowd favourite not only locally but also across the world.
He now hopes the motivation and the joy of winning the award can push him to give the team a good push at the Dubai Sevens next weekend where they hope to have a good performance.
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