Sloppy booking? Drama as Kenyan Race Walkers Grounded: Flight Mishap Derails Olympic Qualification Bid
Kenya may have missed the opportunity to qualify more race walkers for the Paris Olympic Games due to their flight to Antalya, Turkey, where the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships were held, being booked incorrectly.
The team that departed on Thursday at midnight on a Turkish Airlines flight arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, after a journey of seven hours and 20 minutes.
Afterward, they took a Turkish Airlines flight to Ercan International Airport in Northern Cyprus, reaching their destination later on Friday morning after a flight of approximately one hour and 40 minutes.
The team was supposed to take a one-hour flight from Ercan International Airport to Antalya International Airport when the trouble began.
Kenyan team was held at Ercan International Airport because they lacked the required transit visa for Cyprus.
The team spent time at Ercan International Airport before departing on Saturday afternoon for Istanbul, where they took a Turkish Airlines flight around 7:30 pm and landed in Nairobi at 2 am on Sunday.
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships concluded on Sunday without a Kenyan team participating, as they were unable to secure an additional flight to Antalya.
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Samuel Gathimba, the 2022 world bronze medalist and African Games silver medalist, along with African Games champion Emily Ngii, had been at the forefront of leading the team to the world event.
The team also included Heristone Wanyonyi, the 2021 world under-20 champion, and Dominic Ndigiti, a former Africa under-20 champion.
Other team members coached by George Kariuki included Stephen Ndangili, an Under-20 bronze medalist from Africa, and Margaret Gati.
Joseph Ochieng, the Athletics Kenya Nyanza North Region chairman, led the team with support from Francis Afundi, the Athletics Kenya Western Region chairman.
“It’s quite disappointing that we had to go all the way only to be detained in Cyprus where we slept at the airport for two days,” said one of the team members, who sought anonymity.
“The ministry was in charge of the flight arrangement and we don’t know why they rerouted us to Cyprus when it was easy to connect from Istanbul to Antalya,” said the source, adding that Athletics Kenya was preparing a statement over the issue.
Sloppy booking? Drama as Kenyan Race Walkers Grounded: Flight Mishap Derails Olympic Qualification Bid
