Team Kenya happy with facilities as athletes settle in Brazil
Rugby
By
Bismarck Mutahi
| Jul 27, 2016
The first batch of athletes that arrived in Rio two days ago has got down to serious training ahead of the Olympic Games next month.
However, according to the Team Kenya Chef De Mission Stephen Soi, most of the athletes were still trying to adjust to the five-hour zone difference, but he was happy that they trained yesterday.
"Generally, Team Kenya members here are in high spirits, having landed safely in Rio and I am happy to report that they have started training ahead of the opening ceremony on August 5," Soi told Feverpitch on phone from Rio Di Janeiro.
The first batch of 60 athletes and officials left the country on Sunday via Luanda, Angola then to Rio, where they arrived at 6pm (12am Kenyan time on Monday).
The delegation that was received by Soi, alongside other National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) officials who had left for Rio last week, comprised the men and women sevens rugby teams, swimming, archery, judo and weight-lifting athletes.
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Peter Angwenyi, the Press Liaison Officer who is with the team in Rio, said the technical benches of the various sports disciplines in Rio have expressed satisfaction with the facilities that they have used so far.
He said the population at the Olympic village is swelling with each passing day as athletes from various countries continue to arrive in Rio ahead of the games.
There has been talk before the games that the village might not be ready to host the over 50,000 athletes expected, but according to Angwenyi, the organisers were working overtime to ensure all the facilities are ready before the games start.
On Monday, the Australia delegation had refused to move into the village, saying the facility was not ready.
According to Reuters, 31 seventeen-storey buildings have been built, but only 12 had been given the green light by Monday morning, while another eight were in the process of receiving a full safety certification.
"Twenty will be ready by today and 31 should be ready by Thursday," Rio2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told Reuters.
Soi also said the official welcome ceremony for Kenya to the Games village has been moved to July 30 at 3pm.
"The welcome ceremony is a key date in the Olympic Games, where the national flag of the country is officially raised in the games village. Each country is allocated the day and time for the ceremony," Soi said.
The Games Village was officially opened on July 24.
Sevens rugby action starts on August 9, boxing starts on August 6, archery a day earlier while boxing starts on August 7. Track and field action starts on August 12.