COVID-19: Kenya Olympic body turns to online conferencing

Nairobi, May 9 (IANS) As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to ground sporting activity around the world, the National Olympic Committee-Kenya (NOCK) has turned to online conferencing to keep in touch with athletes during this crisis period.

The inaugural conference, titled ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ which covered understanding and dealing with the social and personal effects of COVID-19 saw Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Julius Yego and Paul Tergat, NOCK president and two-time Olympic silver medal-winner, discuss issues related to the pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

“We are in a different territory that we have never been before. This pandemic has hit us hard and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. As NOCK, our aim is to keep in touch with our sportsmen and women and give them the necessary advice through our experts,” Tergat said in Nairobi on Friday.

“This pandemic has greatly affected sports and the postponement of the Olympics no doubt has mentally affected our athletes,” he added.

The NOCK chief said the umbrella body of federations in Kenya will seek collaboration with the government through the Ministry of Sports and other corporations to help out vulnerable athletes whose income depends on sports.

Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Sports, on Friday signed off on trucks with food donated by a private firm to be delivered to athletes in need to supplement the relief funds rolled out by World Athletics last week.

Since the pandemic hit Kenya, the government has suspended all public gatherings, affecting hundreds of athletes with training camps closed.

During the same conference, local tennis coach Rosemary Owino challenged athletes to observe discipline while undergoing individual training.

“It’s okay to be stressed, get negative, but most important is to curb it and build on it. Discipline levels of the athletes are highly tested at the moment and this includes whether they are able to train on their own without being followed,” Kenya’s Davis Cup team coach Owino added.

–IANS

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