Google Plus and YouTube treat for fans

Kenyan athletics fans who will not make it to London to watch the 2012 Olympics have a chance to follow the action live through the click of a mouse, thanks to an initiative by Google Plus and YouTube.

Being among the favourites to top the medals table, Kenya is one of 54 countries granted rights for online live streaming of the Olympic Games by YouTube after the company purchased non-exclusive digital live-streaming rights of the Games. Because some events will happen concurrently, viewers will have a chance to watch each event via a live YouTube stream.

Athletics fans can watch events by clicking on different URLs, for instance youtube.com/Olympics/javelinmen for men’s javelin to watch Julius Yego.

Kenyan sports journalists in London will also have a chance to conduct live interviews with Kenyan Olympians via Google Hangout at the Kenya House and share them with online audiences via Team Kenya Google Plus page.

Speaking on Thursday, Google Kenya Country Manager, Joe Mucheru, urged local athletics fans to take advantage of technology to follow progress of their stars online.