Lessons for Kenya from Winter Olympics

What you need to know:

  • Isn’t the spirit of sport such an amazing thing to happen to humanity? 
  • One hopes that when we do get another opportunity to host a global sporting event, we shall put aside our political differences and unite for the greater good of the country just like the Korean nations.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics could not have happened at a better place, let alone time.

Dubbed the ‘Peace Olympics,’ the games happened at a time when the world was staring at the possibility of a nuclear war and at one of most volatile zones in the world, the Korean Peninsula.

The resilient spirit of sport could however, not stop 92 countries from sending 1,680 men and 1,242 women to participate in the winter games in the Asian country from February 9 to 25.

North Korea was a participant so was the United States of America and Kenya, which was among the eight African states that took part in the competition.

As the curtain fell on the games in Pyeongchang, Norway led with 39 medals followed by Germany on 31 while Canada was third with 29.

The United States of America was fourth and the Netherlands fifth with 23 and 20 medals respectively. The hosts were placed seventh with 17 medals. Kenya was represented at the winter Olympics by a debutant Alpine skier, Sabrina Simader.

The result notwithstanding, the Korean Peninsula was clearly the winner of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics due to their display of unity.

Kenya can certainly pick vital lessons from the two Korean nations.

Last year, the country was stripped off the rights to host the African Nations Championship (Chan) due to ill-preparedness and lack of venues. 

While the two Korean adversities put their hostilities for the sake of sport, Kenya’s political climate last year made it easy for the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to take the competition away from us.

We simply could not put our house in order and focus on preparing for a competition that would have put us on the world map for all the right reasons.

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un had given a New Year offer to South Korea for discussions regarding his country’s intention to participate in the games.

ADVERSARIES

The two adversaries had not had any formal talks since 2015. After discussions, it was apparent that Pyongyang would send a delegation to Seoul and like a girl already too willing, North Korea did everything to impress.

They sent a 280-strong delegation south of the border led by Kim Jong-un’s influential younger sister, Kim Yo-jong.

At the opening ceremony, athletes from the unified Korea marched under one flag.

This was unprecedented and was preceded by a unified Korean hockey team playing Sweden’s women team in front of over 3000 fans at the Seonhak International Ice Rink.

The unified team lost 3-1 but the results were not half as important as was seeing the war-separated peninsula in their first ever game.

Isn’t the spirit of sport such an amazing thing to happen to humanity? 

One hopes that when we do get another opportunity to host a global sporting event, we shall put aside our political differences and unite for the greater good of the country just like the Korean nations.