Through its President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan government on Monday gave out a cash bonus to the athletes that participated in the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
According to Kenyatta, all athletes received a cash token of Ksh200,000 ($1,900) for their efforts.
More details indicate that medalists who scooped gold during the games were awarded Ksh1 million ($9,000), silver medalists Ksh750,000 ($6,800) while bronze medalists were given Ksh500,000 ($4,600).
“We are here to celebrate your victory which is Kenya’s victory. And we are here to congratulate you, to say how proud we are of your performances as individuals and as a team,” President Kenyatta said.
He added that the government would continue partnering with all stakeholders in the sports sector to ensure that the country retains its talents by creating a conducive environment and giving good incentives for their performance.
Uhuru cautioned the Ministry of Sports and all partners to layout a system of identifying and developing sports talent from their formative ages so as to expand the country’s pool of athletes.
“We want to continue to ensure that we not only do our best to retain our athletes but also we are constantly building up our sportsmen and women from an early age,” he said
It should be recalled that Eliud Kipchoge, the 36-year-old Kenyan marathoner is considered among the “greatest of all time,” (G.O.A.T) and Kipchoge showed it once again at the Tokyo Olympics, winning gold in the men’s marathon.
That’s back-to-back wins for the Kenyan superstar, making him the third man to ever defend his gold medal in this event.
Kenya’s performance at Tokyo 2020 Olympics provided plenty of highlights and historical moments, many of which came from athletes representing African countries.
Kenya finished 19th in the medal table, won the most of any African country with 10 total medals, including gold. In total, 13 African nations won medals during this year’s games.
