President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday at State House Mombasa, received representatives of the triumphant Kenyan contingent to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where he announced cash rewards of Sh1 million, Sh750,000 and Sh500,000 for gold, silver and bronze medalists respectively.

The Head of State further announced a uniform token of Sh200,000 for all athletes and officials, including the Paralympics team, currently participating in the delayed Summer Games.

The President thanked the Olympians for their outstanding performances that saw Kenya top the African medal chart, pointing out that the team’s success had once again demonstrated Kenya’s sporting prowess.

“We are here to celebrate your victory, which is Kenya’s victory. And we are here to congratulate you, to say how proud we are of your performances as individuals and as a team,” President Kenyatta said.

He said the government will continue working with all stakeholders in the sports sector to ensure the country retains its talents by creating a conducive environment and giving good incentives for their performance.

The Head of State called on the Ministry of Sports and all partners to lay out a system of identifying and developing sports talent from their formative ages so as to expand the country’s pool of athletes.

“We want to continue to ensure that we not only do our best to retain our athletes but also we are constantly building up our sportsmen and women from an early age,” the President said.

He thanked the World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who was present, for working closely with the Kenyan government in hosting global sporting events, and expressed optimism that this would lead to Kenya being the first African country to host the world championship.

“We have been honoured to host the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships and it is my profound hope that this will now lay a foundation for Kenya to be the first African country to host the World Athletics Championships,” the Head of State said.

“We will do everything within our power, working with all stakeholders to ensure Kenya becomes the first nation in Africa to host the World Athletics championships. We are slowly moving in that direction,” he added.

Once again, the President urged the Kenyan athletes to always adhere to set international standards by avoiding indulgences that may destroy their careers and the country’s sporting reputation.

In remarks read by her Principal Secretary Joe Okudo, Sports CS Amina Mohamed thanked President Kenyatta for his commitment to the development of Kenya’s athletes saying the move has continued to ensure the country produces best teams for global events   – PSCU