Kenya to pitch Olympic Games training camp in Fukuoka

NAIROBI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Olympic team will pitch camp in Fukuoka, Japan, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) Secretary General Francis Mutuku said the camp will be critical to the team's preparations and will help the athletes acclimatize to the weather and focus on the Games.

"The training will be athlete-driven and only those who want to train there will do so. We want to make it open and transparent and we will be discussing this with the respective federations so that we may incorporate their views," Mutuku said on Friday in Nairobi.

At London 2012, there was much confusion surrounding the Kenya team, with different disciplines seeking alternative training camps. It ended up contributing to a poor performance from Kenya, and now the NOCK wants to act fast to resolve any pending issues before the team heads to Japan.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Kenya was the highest performing African nation with 13 medals - six gold, six silver and one bronze. NOCK Vice President Shadrack Maluki said they intend to improve on this performance.

Kenya hopes more athletes in disciplines beyond athletics will qualify for the Games. Swimming, boxing, volleyball, rugby sevens, judo and hockey are some of the categories the country hopes to compete in Tokyo.

Tickets for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games go on sale on June 14.