COVID Restrictions Hampered Kenya's Olympic Performance, Team Officials Say
Voice of America
NAIROBI, KENYA - Kenya’s Olympic team won 10 medals at the Tokyo Games, the most of any African nation. However, Kenyan officials say the medal count could have been even higher if not for the training restrictions brought on by COVID-19.
As in past years, Kenya dominated the long-distance running competitions, winning gold in the 800 and 1500 meters and men’s and women’s marathons. Emmanuel Korir, who won the 800 meters gold for Kenya, told VOA he was happy with his performance. “To be honest, I am so happy. We didn’t get time to train well. I don’t want to complain. It affected everyone, so we were all equal. Everything was fine. The only problem was there were no spectators, but at least we did it,” Korir said.
Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on Feb. 14, 2025.
FILE - A USAID flag flutters outside as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued freezing funding, in Washington, Feb. 3, 2025.
FILE - Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, Nov. 13, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
A view of a selection of the mummified bodies in the exhibition area of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (Emma Paolin via AP) Emma Paolin, a researcher at University of Ljubljana, background, and Dr. Cecilia Bembibre, lecturer at University College London, take swab samples for microbiological analysis at the Krakow University of Economics. (Abdelrazek Elnaggar via AP)
FILE - Myanmar's military commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, attends a military exercise at Ayeyarwady delta region in Myanmar, Feb. 3, 2018. FILE - Aung San Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's leader, delivers a speech in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Jan. 28, 2020.
FILE - Kurdish-led fighters backed by the U.S. escort suspected Islamic State militants in Hasakah, Syria, Jan. 26, 2022.
FILE - A picture taken on September 14, 2017 shows an Airbus A340 of Mahan Air at the tarmac at Dubai's International Airport. FILE - A plane of Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), prepares to take off from Beirut International airport on Aug. 5, 2024.
FILE - Philippine Navy personnel watch the Canadian vessel HMCS Montreal during the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity being held in the West Philippine Sea, Aug. 7, 2024.
Balochistan province, Pakistan
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te holds a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 14, 2025. FILE - The logo of TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is shown during the Taiwan Innotech Expo at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 14, 2022.
Police officers stand next to a car outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis has gone to continue treatment for ongoing bronchitis in Rome, Feb. 14, 2025.
Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip hold photos depicting their faces during a protest demanding their release from Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025.
FILE - The New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which cover the No. 4 reactor unit, seen May 29, 2022.