Team Kenya’s athletes arrive in Bristol this morning to train and prepare for the London Olympics, with a wide range of organisations and businesses across the city promising a warm welcome.
The team of around 40 athletes and officials will stay in UWE Bristol’s student village and train at the Olympic-standard athletics track at WISE SGS College.
The visit has been arranged by the Bristol Kenya Partnership (BKP) with support from UWE, University of Bristol, WISE SGS, Bristol City Council and others. Twice Olympic gold-medal winner Kip Keino, chairman of Kenya’s National Olympics Committee, will be one of the officials accompanying the squad.
Mr Keino, who won gold at the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Games, will receive the Freedom of the City of Bristol at a special ceremony in the Council House. This will be followed by a reception for the squad and Mr Keino with Bristol law firm Osborne Clarke and accountants Smith & Williamson.
The squad includes all the runners up to and including the 3,000m steeplechase, two swimmers and a female weightlifter. David Rudisha world record holder and reigning world champion for 800m will arrive in Bristol next week after running in Paris at the weekend. Reigning 800m Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo is among the stars who will be using the Kip Keino stadium at SGS College as their training base. The long distance runners will be staying at altitude in Kenya.
The Kip Keino Stadium is one of only six venues in the South West with UK Athletics Class A certification for its athletics facilities. A £1.3m investment turned a former training track into a competition-standard athletics ground. Bristol City Council put £450,000 towards the development.
Floodlights have been installed so it can be used at night, and £70,000 of new equipment including pole vaults, hurdles and high jumps added.
UWE Bristol deputy vice-chancellor John Rushforth said: “It is a huge honour to host the Kenyan team.
“We are delighted that they have chosen to base themselves in Bristol and that we have a chance to build on our various connections with Kenya. We hope their stay at UWE Bristol will be a great start to their Olympic ambitions and we will do all we can to make it a success.”
Bob Reeves, of the University of Bristol, and chairman of BKP, said: “We are really excited to have the Kenyan team in Bristol. It is our way of engaging in the biggest sporting event ever held in the UK. Bristol's athletics facilities have greatly improved in recent years and this has in part been motivated by the agreement reached with the Kenyans, with the support of Bristol City Council.
"This will provide a long term legacy, as will the partnership arrangements now in place between 21 Bristol schools and Kenyan counterparts. Already, ten schools have been involved in student and/or staff exchanges. In addition there have been sports development programmes in Kenya engaged in by students from UWE Bristol, Filton College and the University of Bristol, and a number of other sport-related activities.
“The Kenyan Association in Bristol is also closely involved with the visit, and members have visited a number of Bristol schools to explain about Kenyan culture, as well as to teach some Swahili.”
A reception for the athletes this evening will be jointly hosted by UWE Bristol and the Kenyan High Commissioner, Ephraim Ngare, who will be attending.
The Kenyan Paralympic squad will also stay in UWE Bristol’s student village and will arrive during August prior to the start of the Paralympics in London on August 29.
