NAIROBI, Jan 17 - Kenya will send a reduced team of 135 athletes to the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia, substantially reducing the size of previous squads, officials said Tuesday.
Kipchoge Keino, chairman of Kenya’s National Olympic Committee, said 154 Kenyans had qualified to compete in 12 events but that only 135 would make the trip because organizers wanted only the best athletes at the March 15-26 Games in Melbourne.
The Australians are asking us to give them the best team,'' he told reporters at a news conference here. We are not going there to jog but to perform.’’
Kenya has in the past sent teams to the Commonwealth Games of more than 200 athletes.
Keino, winner of two gold medals in the 1966 Games in Kingston, Jamaica, said the Olympic committee had decided to comply with the organizers request in part because many Kenyan athletes would not be in prime condition for the events because most peak towards the middle of the year.
This is the wrong time for us,'' he said. The hot and humid conditions in Melbourne will be detrimental to our athletes and the only way out is to train every day.’’
The Kenyan squad for the Games is expected to start residential training in Nairobi on February 11.