Former world javelin champion Julius Yego has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to complete at least one state-of-the-art stadium before he retires in order to leave a legacy in sports.
The former Commonwealth Games champion advised president Kenyatta to build stadium, especially in Eldoret to aid athletes from north rift in training.
He said he has to travel to Nairobi, pay rent and facilities at Moi Sports Centre, Kasarani as he prepares to represent the country at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan later this year.
“Am mainly train in Nairobi. Kasarani is the only place where we have enough facilities for javelin because in Eldoret, the Kipchoge stadium is under construction and that remains the main challenge for us. In javelin, without facilities, you can’t do anything constructive,” added the reigning All Africa Games champion.
He slammed the government for failing to honour the nine stadiums they promised to Kenyans saying the government is joking with her people.
“I think the government has been making very serious jokes on building and rebuilding them. I think they are joking with Kenyans. They promised nine stadiums but so far nothing has been done,” he said.
He said that the same stadiums that athletes used to access are now in bad state than before. The work of renovation stopped long ago like at Kipchoge Keino stadium in Eldoret, Keino stadium in Kapsabet and Kamariny stadium in Iten are in a messy state, good for planting maize.
“The government need to be serious because sports is currently boosting the economy of the country. Look at what (Eliud )Kipchoge did. Tourists are flocking into the country to see what Kenyan athletes do to achieve such big goals. They come with money yet nothing has come to show the poor state of facilities,” added Yego.
But urged the president that the bust stops at his door saying that the issue should start from the president.
“If he wants to leave a legacy in sports, he should build a big, modern and state-of-the-art stadium in North Rift especially Eldoret. If he can do that, his legacy will ever be remembered forever among Kenyan sportsmen and women,” he said.
He cited Kasarani where he spends too much to train. “I pay a lot of money to stay and train in Nairobi while I come from Eldoret. And because I can manage to pay for my training and rental bills, stadium facilities, imagine that young man who wants to take up javelin as a sport, they can’t train due to lack of facilities. To buy once certified javelin, it cost more than kshs 100,000, no one will buy them,” he concluded
Source: The Stars Newspaper