This archive report was first published on 7 June 2020.
On June 7, 2020, Kenya's Olympic dreams received a significant boost as six top athletes were awarded scholarships by the Association of National Olympics Committees of Africa (Anoca).
The highly competitive scholarships, worth Sh100,000 per month, were handed over to the athletes by National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) president Paul Tergat at a ceremony in Kericho.
The recipients of the scholarships are Wycliffe Kinyamal, Rodgers Kwemoi, Emily Cherotich, Ferguson Rotich, Conseslus Kipruto, and Timothy Cheruiyot.
These athletes have achieved remarkable success in their respective fields, with Kinyamal being the Commonwealth 800 meters champion, Kwemoi the Commonwealth 10,000m bronze medalist, and Rotich the world 800m bronze medalist.
Cherotich won the national 800m title in 2018 and was a bronze medalist at the 2016 African Games, while Kipruto is the world steeplechase champion and Cheruiyot the world 1,500m champion.
Each athlete will receive Sh400,000 for the next four months, and the disbursement will continue until next year when they travel to the Tokyo Olympics.
According to Tergat, the selection process was rigorous, and the athletes who benefited must account for the money.
“There is a very stringent process of qualifying for the scholarships which includes being on top in the world in the current season and we realised the other federations could not qualify and Athletics Kenya had athletes who could benefit and that’s how we rewarded them,” said Tergat.
