The chef-de-mission for Team Kenya to the Tokyo Olympics, Waithaka Kioni, has said it is too late for a contingency plan after the Japanese city of Kurume pulled out of hosting a pre-games camp for the Kenyan delegation. Kioni said the memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Kurume was signed in 2019 and it had been expected that both parties would follow through but for the coronavirus pandemic. He said it was understandable for the city to pull out considering the prevailing Covid-19 infections in the Asian country. Olympics Kenya on Wednesday afternoon revealed that Kurume City had pulled out due to the spiralling cases of Covid-19 in Japan as well as in the Fukuoka Prefecture — where the city is located. Team Kenya were to leave the country for Kurume from July 7, starting with all qualified teams except middle and long-distance runners as well as swimmers.

Source: The Star June 03, 2021 01:52 UTC