Kenya at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Kenya sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. The delegation consisted of one cross-country skier, Philip Boit, who was appearing in his second Olympics, and was, at the time, Kenya's only Winter Olympian in history. His best performance was 65th place in the men's sprint.

Kenya at the
2002 Winter Olympics
IOC codeKEN
NOCNational Olympic Committee of Kenya
in Salt Lake City
Competitors1 in 1 sport
Flag bearer Philip Boit
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)

Background

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya was recognised by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1955.[1] They have competed at most Summer Olympic Games since and have won a significant number of medals at Summer Olympiads.[2] However, their first Winter Olympics participation only came in the 1998 Winter Olympics, and Kenya was making its second Winter Olympic appearance in Salt Lake City.[2] The Kenyan delegation to Utah consisted of one cross-country skier, Philip Boit.[3] He had also been the nation's only representative four years prior.[4] As his country's only participant, Boit was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony.[5]

Cross-country skiing
Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Philip Boit was 30 years old at the time of the Salt Lake City Olympics.[6] Boit was a runner who had been scouted by American sportswear company Nike, who wished to train runners as cross-country skiers.[7] After being recruited, Boit, who had never previously seen snow, initially trained in Kenya on roller skis.[8] He then participated in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[4] In the men's 2 × 10 kilometre pursuit held on 14 February, he finished the 10 kilometre classical portion in 36 minutes and 21.6 seconds. This ranked him 77th for the event, and only the top 60 were allowed to proceed to the second 10 kilometre freestyle portion.[9][10] On 19 February, Boit participated in the sprint, finishing the qualifying round in a time of 3 minutes and 51.49 seconds and in 65th place.[11] Only the top 16 finishers advanced to the quarterfinals, meaning Boit was eliminated.[11] Boit would once again be the only Kenyan athlete at the 2006 Winter Olympics.[12]


Sprint

Athlete Event Qualifying round Quarter finals Semi finals Finals
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Final rank
Philip Boit Men's sprint 3:54.49 65 Did not advance

Pursuit

Athlete Event 10 km C 10 km F pursuit1
Time Rank Time Final rank
Philip Boit Men's 2 × 10 kilometre pursuit 36:21.6 77 Did not advance

1 Starting delay based on 10 km C. results.
C = Classical style, F = Freestyle

References
  1. "Kenya – National Olympic Committee (NOC)". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. "Kenya". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  3. "Kenya at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  4. "Kenya at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  5. "List of the 77 delegations in the order they will enter the stadium and the name of their flag bearer" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  6. "Philip Boit Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  7. "Skiers From Kenya? Just Do It – Nike Gets Criticized For Initiating Feel-Good Story Of Winter Games". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. 14 February 1988. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  8. Savage, Maddy (24 January 2014). "Philip Boit and Bjorn Daehlie: Cross-country friends". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  9. "Cross Country Skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games: Men's 10/10 kilometres Pursuit 10 kilometres, Classical". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  10. "Cross Country Skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games: Men's 10/10 kilometres Pursuit". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  11. "Cross Country Skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games: Men's Sprint Qualifying Round". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  12. Crumpacker, John (11 February 2006). "Pomp and splendor". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
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