The first batch of Team Kenya to the Tokyo 2025 Summer Deaflympics is scheduled to depart for Japan on Tuesday, the team’s Chief Executive Officer Duncan Kuria has confirmed.
The 25th edition of the two-week quadrennial multi-sport event starts on Saturday with an opening ceremony at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
The Games are expected to attract over 6000 participants from around the world, including athletes and officials.
Kenya, a traditional powerhouse in the competition, will be represented by a contingent of 180 members including athletes, team officials, interpreters, delegates and medics. Kuria said Team Kenya’s preparation for the competition is over, and assured the delegation of a memorable experience in Tokyo.
He said that the second batch of the team will travel on Wednesday followed by the final group on Thursday.
“Team Kenya, we are ready for the Deaflympics. The athletes are well prepared. We are confident of a good outing in the Summer Games,” said Kuria who is fresh from guiding a high-powered Kenyan delegation from Tokyo where they made preparations ahead of Team Kenya departure for the Games.
While 21 disciplines will be contested at the Tokyo Deaflympics, Kenya will take part in five; namely athletics, women’s basketball, men’s handball, golf and swimming.
Initially, Kenya was supposed to participate in 12 disciplines but seven teams were dropped due to budget constraints.
The teams that were pruned were women’s football, bowling, badminton, tennis, table tennis, cycling and women’s volleyball.
Team Kenya has been in a residential camp at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi since October 19.
“Our contingent is ready; we are very anxious to land in Japan and see that we post better results than we did last time in Brazil (2022) in Brazil” the Kenyan boxing legend underlined.
“It (Tokyo) is a wonderful environment that awaits our athletes and we are just hoping that when they go there, they acclimatize very fast. I believe in terms of competition, we are up to the task and we are going to challenge the rest of the world and win as many medals as possible,” Kuria assured.
The Tokyo Deaflympics will mark Kenya’s eighth appearance at the Games since making its debut at the 1997 edition in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Over the years, Kenya has maintained a strong performance in the Deaflympics with its 24-medal haul in Brazil in 2022 remaining the country’s best-ever performance in the Games.
Previously, in the 2017 Summer Deaflympics held in Samsun, Turkey, Kenya were top in Africa and ninth globally with 16 medals (five gold, five silver, and six bronze).
To ensure that the Kenyan athletes do not struggle with unfamiliar cuisines in Tokyo, Kuria said plans are in place to make suitable Kenyan food, especially maize flour, available for them during the duration of the competition.
“We want to have them (athletes) eating their favourite meal if that is what will enable them to win more medals. As leaders in the team, we are ready to give them what they want and ensure that they don’t have an excuse of not making it to the podium,” said the CEO.
Kuria assured that the athletes will receive their local allowances before departing the country while the international allowances will be disbursed once they arrive in Tokyo.
