0ver 60 Taekwondo players turned up for the national selection ahead of OlYmpic Games and All Africa Games.
Over the weekend, Kenya Taekwondo held its first national selection trials as they embarked on the journey towards Paris 2024 Olympic Games and 2023 African Games at the Pipeline Taekwondo Talent Academy Survey.
The tournament attracted over 60 athletes falling in 30 bouts from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kibabii University, Kenya Defense Forces and Kenya Prisons
“We are on a journey plan. Hence this tournament is important to the federation to allow us to select women and men who can join camp next week as we start preparing towards the African Games and Olympics 2024. We are planning to expose them to as many competitions as possible, to ensure adequate training.” George Wasonga, Secretary General Kenya Taekwondo Federation.
The federation, which is anticipating a thrilling season of six local championships and eight International Championships to acquire ranking towards the games, is looking to grasp even higher points ranging from G1 to G20.
Speaking as the National head coach, Nesmas Mbati expounded lucidly on the selection system on the day’s tournament which saw the top three athletes from different regions in each category selected.
“We learnt so many lessons after the Tokyo Games, so to start with, there will be two national teams moving forward, the seniors and the juniors. We’ve also learnt about early preparations towards the Olympics, other countries are already preparing for 2028 games so it impels us to work even harder.”
The federation which saw Kenya’s Taekwondo sensation Faith Ogallo represent the country at the Tokyo games has also imported new scoring systems and is looking to add gym equipment and a Strength and Conditioning specialist.
“We are looking forward to the Africa Youth Games in August this year and the junior team will start preparing for it when they join camp next week.” He concluded