Let us pick our best and ruffle feathers in Australia

As we prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia it is imperative that we pick a very strong Team Kenya. And by saying so, I mean sports across the board should select formidable sides that can challenge for Commonwealth glory rather than just relying on our traditional stronghold - athletics.

Kenya will be represented in various disciplines at Gold Coast and I hope we will all be pulling together to fill the medal basket, and fill it abundantly.

It’s time disciplines like boxing punched their weight and breathed fresh air into Kenya’s sporting arena.

This time, it shouldn’t be athletics dominating our medal count with no contribution from other quarters.

We have performed well in events like swimming, boxing and even rugby and I am sure we can relive the good old days.

Let us pick our teams with targets in mind and not just representatives to make up the numbers Down Under and for sight seeing.

Commonwealth Games may not feature all countries of the world but still hold a special place in the hearts of the British colonies.

This is the reason why we need to give the event our all and return home with the top bragging rights especially at this time when we are divided along political lines. Sports does have a way of uniting a people, a community, even if sometimes only transiently.

Any federation, which embarks on the selection process must ensure that they hand over their best athletes to the games management.

I am not saying that everyone will win a medal but there must be remarkable improvement from last time.

For example, whoever reached the final last time should aim to win a medal and those who reached semis must aspire for the final, and so on and so forth. 

Athletics also need not be too choosy since a Commonwealth Games medal is as good as the Olympics or World Championships.

We need to think about this country and reason out what a medal means for the 40 million plus Kenyans.

I know there are other events including the Diamond League but the Commonwealth Games are just special.

We should realise that our neighbours Uganda are taking the event seriously and if we don’t field our best, they will spoil our party, especially, in long distance running.

I know we have what it takes to dominate Commonwealth but a lot will depend on how we organise ourselves in the next two months.