The Ministry of Sports has come under heavy criticism over poor reception of athletes who participated in the just-concluded Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
In photos that have gone viral on social media, legendary long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge and his colleagues received a cold reception at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after arriving from Japan last night.
Kipchoge and his teammates made their way out of the airport silently unlike their counterparts in Uganda who were welcomed home with pomp yesterday.
Christened the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Kipchoge defended his marathon title and scooped Kenya’s fourth gold in the 32nd Olympic Games that ended on Sunday.
Kenyan athletes have been arriving home in groups. The first batch arrived in the country on Monday without the usual heroic welcome.
Kenyans took to social media sites to criticize the government and especially Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for doing little to appreciate the athletes who topped Africa with 10 medals.
Kenya took the 19th position overall with four gold, four silver and two bronze.
Read: Tokyo Olympics: Eliud Kipchoge Retains Title In Style
A section of Kenyans opined that the government’s failure to appreciate local talents greatly contributed to many changing their nationality to represent other countries in track events.
“This is how Kenyan athletes arrived. Even the people around the airport looked on saying nothing Face with rolling eyes. Sad will be understatement. They performed well, arrived silently with no reception but this morning, hey let us tweet to thank the Cabinet Secretary for sports #AsanteCSAmina,” Abraham Mutai said.
“…Instead of congratulating our athletes and organising a grand reception for them, we have woken up to tweet #AsanteCSAmina to thank the Cabinet Secretary for sports. Are we ok folks?”
This is how Kenyan athletes arrived. Even the people around the airport looked on saying nothing 🙄. Sad will be understatement. They performed well, arrived silently with no reception but this morning, hey let us tweet to thank the Cabinet Secretary for sports #AsanteCSAmina pic.twitter.com/HFBkLQyrUx
— Lord Abraham Mutai (@ItsMutai) August 11, 2021
“Heroic welcome for Uganda’s Olympic medalists Cheptegei, Kiplimo and Chemutai, who have arrived back in the country from Tokyo. We will keep losing our athletes if we continue mistreating, under-paying but over-taxing our heroes,” Phelix G-Cord tweeted.
How Ugandan 4 medals athletes were received Vs how Kenyan 10 medals athletes were received. @moscakenya @AMB_A_Mohammed @AthleticsKE pic.twitter.com/bPBdjW28Zt
— Phelix G-Cord (@PhelixOchola) August 11, 2021
Heroic welcome for Uganda's Olympic medalists Cheptegei, Kiplimo and Chemutai, who have arrived back in the country from Tokyo.
We will keep losing our athletes if we continue mistreating, under-paying but over-taxing our heroes #AsanteCSAmina pic.twitter.com/XgSFwxmCO1
— Phelix G-Cord (@PhelixOchola) August 11, 2021
How Ugandan Athletes were received and how Kenyan Athletes were received. (Photos Courtesy) pic.twitter.com/AX6LV8jPw7
— Stephen Mukangai (@SMukangai) August 11, 2021
Our athletes have arrived back like unwanted creatures. While CS @AMB_A_Mohammed is sponsoring self-praising hashtags on Twitter, athletes continue to arrive without any recognition and welcome.
THIS IS A BIG SHAME!! pic.twitter.com/47rHKwTUAc
— Robert ALAI, HSC (@RobertAlai) August 11, 2021
https://twitter.com/Wanji_ke/status/1425295447258771460?s=20
#AsanteCSAmina for KILLING sports in Kenya,
Julius Yego had to train solely,
Stadiums have stalled
Some athletes were left out in Tokyo Olympics…Whereas Zack Kinuthia and co were there to earn perdiemsLook how Uganda Olympic champions were received vs in Kenya (nobody cares) pic.twitter.com/PgmL8FaL9G
— Jame (@Cjamehk) August 11, 2021
https://twitter.com/KambaIcon_/status/1425330004829802496?s=20
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