NOCK maps long-term medal path as Maluki shifts focus from participation to podium

NOCK president Shadrack Maluki outlined a performance-driven strategy that extends beyond the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and already factors in planning for Brisbane 2032.

Speaking during the National Athletes’ Week forum held on Tuesday at the Kasarani Sports View Hotel, Maluki said the Committee is shifting away from reactive team assembly towards structured, early athlete placement in high-performance environments.

“We have brought athletes here to ensure they are where they need to be,” said Maluki.

He stressed that preparation — not last-minute reaction — will now guide Kenya’s Olympic approach.

Maluki said ambition has moved decisively from participation to podium finishes, insisting that Olympic success must be measured by medals.

“We want to take athletes not just to represent the country but to have podium finishes. LA 2028 must be about getting medals for our country,” he said.

At the core of the strategy is a coordinated, system-wide framework that aligns federations, coaches, technical teams, and funding partners under a single high-performance vision.

Maluki said NOCK is actively engaging stakeholders to ensure consistent resourcing throughout the Olympic cycle, while also appealing to corporate partners to supplement existing International Olympic Committee (IOC) support.

“We are engaging stakeholders to ensure we have proper funding. We are also asking corporates to come on board,” he noted.

Maluki revealed that IOC-backed programmes are already operational, with coaches and technical teams now being integrated more deliberately to work closely with federations, reinforcing professionalism, accountability, and continuity across all sports.

Beyond the Olympic Games, NOCK’s structures are designed to support clear qualification pathways for the Youth Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games, ensuring athletes gain early exposure to elite competition while progressing systematically through the ranks.

Crucially, Maluki emphasised that the current leadership is not narrowly focused on Los Angeles alone.

“The current NOCK is not just looking at LA but also 2032,” he said. “We want to change the narrative this time round. We need to work for the athlete and not the other way round.”

The athlete-first philosophy has already translated into tangible investment.

NOCK recently awarded IOC scholarships worth US$100,000 to Kenya’s national rugby sevens teams — Shujaa and the Lionesses — to support their high-performance programmes as part of the early LA 2028 build-up.

In addition, individual athletes, including Juliana Anyango Ongonga (weightlifting), Priscila Mburu (shooting – air rifle), Joshua Amunga Mboya (weightlifting), Angela Okutoyi (tennis), and Mahabila Mathayo (wrestling) have also benefited from IOC-backed scholarships.

Okutoyi, Kenya’s rising tennis star, continues to justify the investment after a dominant showing at the ITF W35 Nairobi tournaments, where she swept both singles and doubles titles in an impressive display of form.