Nike to remodel Kenya kit for Tokyo 2020

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 29 – National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) president Paul Tergat has disclosed that the team to next year’s Games in Tokyo, Japan will be draped in new remodeled kits by sponsors Nike after the two entities met a few weeks ago.

Tergat says the new kits will be unveiled next year and for the first time, replicas and other merchandise will be available for purchase at a location to be communicated later with NOCK set to earn a commission from all sales.

“We had very fruitful discussions with Nike and we will have rebranded uniforms for 2020. It will be a totally different outlook and design for the country and a unique one. We saw the designs and they look really good. We couldn’t even take photos for confidentiality purposes but I know that everyone will like them,” Tergat said.

He added; “We are on the road to rebranding NOCK and that’s why we have also gone for a different outlook for the kit. For the first time the kits for Tokyo 2020 will be available for purchase plus other merchandise and it is such an honor for NOCK to be given this privilege by Nike.”

The Team Kenya kits was one of the major contentious issues during the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 with issues ranging from oversized uniforms for the athletes to ‘lost’ kits and late arrival.

However, Tergat has promised better handling of the team’s affairs heading to Tokyo.

“For us, we are volunteers here and our number one priority is the athlete. We want to ensure that they are as comfortable as possible and they compete in the best environment,” Tergat further stated.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the NOCK Annual General Meeting at a Nairobi Hotel where among other things a Sh600mn budget for the Olympics was adopted. Almost 40pc of the budget will however go to funding the teams during the qualification process.

Meanwhile, athletes’ representative Humphrey Kayange believes the pilot project for the Youth Olympics boot camp currently on in Lukenya is a good investment as Kenya looks to be more commanding in future Olympics.

The short-term target for the camp is getting athletes ready for the 2022 Youth Olympics which will be held in Africa for the first time ever, with Dakar, Senegal hosting the event.

“We are looking at 2022 and that starts now. Last time out we started looking for athletes and preparing them a year to the event and that should not happen. It’s a process that has to start in advance,” Kayange stated.

“2022 will be exciting because Africa will host the Youth Olympics for the first time ever and why not send Kenya’s biggest contingent. We will be monitoring the athletes now and in April again then start the process of identifying which athletes deserve to be in Dakar,” he further added.

The youth Olympic camps will be held every school holiday, with the current one also setting sights on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

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