This archive report was first published on 4 July 2021.
Team Kenya General Manager Barnaba Korir has hit out at javelin thrower Julius Yego for what he called 'activism without facts'.
Yego, a 2016 Olympic silver medallist, had taken to social media complaining that he had been denied the services of his coach at the bubble camp ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
However, Korir accused Yego of not taking his training seriously, citing that the athlete had been awarded Sh400,000 to train in South Africa, but could not leave the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘The same people he is accusing are the ones who ensured he got the Sh400,000 IOC funding to train in South Africa in preparation for the Olympic Games but he didn’t travel. The government was also ready to match the IOC funding for the athlete to prepare well for the Olympics,’ Korir said.
Yego admitted receiving the funding from IOC via Olympics Kenya, but claimed that he couldn’t travel to South Africa because the country was not accepting foreigners at the time, due to Covid.
‘I can account for how I spent the money in my training but I couldn’t travel to South Africa because the country was not accepting foreigners at the time, due to Covid,’ Yego said.
