Kenya’s Olympic Journey: 1996 Summer Olympics

4 days  to the opening of the 2012 London Games

In 1996, the Olympics were finally in the United States after the 1984 Los Angeles Games. That year Kenya participated in 5 disciplines; athletics, boxing, archery, weightlifting and shooting. With 52 participants, comprising of 42 men and 10 women the country was ready for the Atlanta Games.

Izzy the '96 official mascot

Atlanta Games wasn’t the best Olympics outing as Kenya only managed 8 medals (1 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze). The country was also ranked 38 in the overall medal standing with leader US bagging 111 medals (44 gold, 32 silver and 25 bronze).

In the traditional men’s 3000m steeplechase, Joseph Keter won a gold medal ahead of compatriot Moses Kiptanui who grabbed silver medal.

In the men’s 5000m, Paul Bitok won a silver medal.

In the women’s 5000m, Pauline Konga won a silver medal.

In the men’s 10000m, Paul Tergat won another silver medal.

In the men’s 800m, Fred Onyancha won a bronze medal.

In the men’s 1500m, Stephen Kipkorir won a bronze medal.

In the men’s marathon, Eric Wainaina won a bronze medal.

Don't miss! Google Kenya will Stream Olympics Games Live

Google Kenya will be streaming the Olympics to Kenya via YouTube as it is one of the 54 countries with the right to live stream the Games. All of the streams can be found on the IOC’s YouTube channel.
There is also a Kenyan Olympic page on Google+ that is full of content relating to the Kenyan team, the page is being continuously updated by five experienced local sports journalists who will be reporting direct from London.