KORIR: Work cut out for new Nock chief Tergat

Congratulations are in order for legendary athlete Paul Tergat and his team for being elected to lead National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) for the next four years.

We know it’s not been easy but as they say, the end justifies the means. The journey has been long and torturous, dating back one year ago and along the way, we have all made enemies and friends in the same measure.

But as they say, in politics there are no permanent enemies and its now time to forget about our differences and serve Kenyans.

There is no time to delve into issues about who voted or didn’t vote for you as this will count for nothing. There is a lot backlog at Nock and the earlier the current office gets down to business, the better for all out us.

However, I just want to mention that the Nock elections were the most democratic exercise witnessed in the recent past.

We had three camps, and all of them got representation in the sports umbrella body. Those who didn’t make it, there is always next time plus this is not the end because you can still contribute to sports in one way or another. In essence, you do not need to be in Nock to serve sports.

For those in power, the Commonwealth Games are just around the corner and it is time to get down to business if they are to deliver results.

CARE AND CAUTION

Yes, unlike previous years when the games have been held in August, this time they will come four months earlier in April in Gold Coast, Australia. This is one event that should be handled with a lot of care and caution considering what transpired in the last Olympic Games in Rio.

For this to happen, we will all have to pull in one direction without caring about our origin.

Besides, this is an election year and whatever decision we make will be scrutinised by the public to the smallest detail.

But having said that, I do believe in the capabilities of Tergat as a leader and I know he has a good team that can make wise decisions.

But as I said earlier, work needs to start immediately to avoid recurrence of the ills that were Rio Olympics 2016. Considering the diversity of representation at Nock, we will want this reflected in the Team Kenya to Gold Coast.

We will need to show that we were not just fighting for positions, but we have teams that can fly Kenya’s flag abroad. Besides the usual athletics, rugby and boxing, we want to see more sports in Gold Coast not as tourists, but as competitors.

I will be watching keenly.