- Kenya had started talks with Miramas early in the year
- A team from France visited the country this week
- Kenya will benefit from France’s facilities before the Olympics
Team Kenya athletes will train in Miramas, France, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after a team from the French city visited the country this week to conclude talks.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya hosted a delegation from the City in the Southern Region of France for a series of consultative meetings towards the partnership in hosting Team Kenya.
The team included sporting directors and representatives from departments of Bouches-du-Rhone, Miramas Metropole, and Miramas Athletics Club.
The visit follows a groundwork visit by some of NOC-K Executive Board members in June this year to establish the framework for the partnership as well as assess the sports facilities in the region that will play host to the Team Kenya Pre-Games Training Camp.
The primary objective of this partnership is to benefit individual athletes and teams in their preparations for Paris 2024 Olympics. But further than that, it is envisaged that this partnership will go beyond Paris 2024.
Miramas open to supporting Kenyan athletes
Officials from Miramas City in Kenya
The Miramas team has indicated that they are open to supporting the Kenyan athletes in their preparation pathway in what they hailed as a significant partnership for them as a Region and country.
Briefing the media on this nascent partnership, the Miramas team has mentioned that part of the support includes technical assistance for the Kenyan teams as well as some coaches.
“We are honored to be hosting Team Kenya in Miramas to help in preparation for 2024 Games. This partnership started eight years ago with athletics, and we have now decided to extend to work with all Kenyan teams through NOC-K. We believe the facilities and technical expertise from our side will help coaches grow in terms of capacity. We are also reaching out to the French embassy to help grow our cultural exchange, particularly in language.,” said Patrice Buffet.
A calendar will be rolled out for Team Kenya to begin traveling to France in February in different groups.
After the media briefing at NOC-K offices, the team led by NOCK boss Paul Tergat, CEO of Athletics Kenya, Susan Kamau, and Ferdinand Omanyaka proceeded to the French Embassy to pay a courtesy call to The French Ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet who welcomed his fellow citizens to Kenya.
Facilities will be a delight
NOCK Secretary General Francis Mutuku with officials from Miramas City
“I come from the South of France and what a pleasure it is to see my city-mates bringing such a project to my second home. I can assure Team Kenya of my full support as they travel to France. Athletes such as Omanyala have benefitted from this project,” he said.
The 100m Commonwealth Champion who ran the 60m indoor in February at Miramas spoke on his changed perspective on indoor Championships after a training camp at Miramas where Kenyan sprinters and U-20 athletes trained early this year in April.
Among the benefits Team Kenya will have after the agreement is concluded include athletes training beginning early 2023, a pre-Games camp, technical expertise from the hosts as well as technical Support in sports and infrastructure development and tourism and Cultural Exchange Programs.
Prior to the Olympic Games of 2020 that were staged last year in Tokyo, Japan, Kenya had a similar agreement with Kurume City where different sporting teams held their training before proceeding to Tokyo.
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