Kenya suffered a major setback in their bid to qualify more walkers for the Paris Olympic Games after a flight error caused them to miss the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024 in Antalya, Turkiye.
The team departed on Thursday at midnight, but encountered a series of issues because their flight was wrongly booked.
Upon landing in Istanbul, they had to take another flight to Ercan International Airport, Northern Cyprus, where they arrived Friday morning. However, they were held there for two days due to a lack of transit visas.
The team arrived Nairobi on Sunday after spending two days at Ercan International Airport, having failed to secure another flight to Antalya.
Notable athletes like Samuel Gathimba, Emily Ngii, Heristone Wanyonyi, and others were part of the team led by coach George Kariuki.
The development left the team members disappointed, and Athletics Kenya is expected to release a statement regarding the situation.
“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.
“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,” one of the disappointed team members said.
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024 held in Antalya, Turkiye on Sunday, April 21.
The races took place on a 2km loop course near the Antalya Expo Centre, with the starting and finishing point located at the front of the Expo 2016 Botanical Park.