More Than Just a Kit: The design process of Kenya’s Olympics’ athletics kit

The expectation of every Kenyan whenever the nation’s athletes compete at the Olympic Games or the World Athletics Championships has always been that our runners will dominate their events and return home with gold medals and, possibly, an Olympic or World record.

However, evolutions in kit manufacturing technology coupled with advancements in sports marketing knowledge had added an extra layer to those expectations — that of the aesthetics of the kits our runners wear.

Unlike before, when Kenyan runners wore baggy black running shorts and loose-fitting vests in the colours of our national flag, nowadays Kenyan athletes do not just have to win; they also have to look good in fashionable and trendy kits when they cross the finish line in first place.

As such, in recent years, Kenyans have had strong opinions on the design and look of the Kenya athletic kits.

The kit with the honeycomb design that was used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was not well received by Kenyans and from the look of things, that kit has passed the baton of negative reception to the kit Kenyan athletes will wear at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Both kits were criticised for their unimaginative design and lack of national identity.

However, for the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K), Francis Mutuku, and Athletics Kenya Director for Youth Development, Barnaba Korir, the reception of the kits by Kenyans does not faze them, and they are hopeful that the latest kit will receive recognition as the best athletics kit at the Paris Olympics Games, as the honeycomb design kit did for four years.

“There seems to be a difference in what Kenyans prefer and what foreign fans of Kenyan athletics like. Our kit at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was voted the best at the games, despite what Kenyans back home said about it,” Korir told The Eastleigh Voice.

“The honeycomb kit was a hit outside Kenya and it sold so well. Everyone wanted to have it and the kit also won so many awards based on its unique design,” Mutuku emphasised Korir’s point.

Indeed, the contrast between Kenyans' preferences and those of foreign fans of Kenyan athletics is akin to the biblical story of a prophet who was unpopular in his own country.

In the words of former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph, “Kenyans are peculiar,"  and as far as prophecies go, Athletics Kenya, Nike, and NOC-K can hardly predict what would appeal to Kenyans as a fashionable and trendy kit.

This is despite the fact that, as Korir and Mutuku explained to The Eastleigh Voice, the design process for the kits involved all the key stakeholders in Kenyan athletics.

“Contrary to popular belief, Nike did not work alone in designing the kits. They sought our opinion and, most importantly, those of the athletes. The most important thing Nike takes into consideration when designing the kits for our runners is functionality and the best person to give guidance on that is the athlete. For these kits, Nike consulted the athletes and that includes Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon, who shared their views on how the kits can be made to make them feel comfortable and perform well in them,” Mutuku said.

Sports giant @Nike unveils Team Kenya's official games kit for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hit or miss? pic.twitter.com/FrmXCzDrEW

— Gerald Bitok (@geraldbitok) April 12, 2024

On the issue of aesthetics, Korir defended the latest kits as representing the nation’s identity.

“Much as our national flag has three colours, the dominant colour of our kits has always been red. The latest kits carry our national identity by containing colours associated with our national flag,” Korir said.

“We understand Kenyans wanting our athletes to have fashionable kits. Over the years, we have even had more products enter the market, like the sports bra for women, which was not a thing among Kenyan female athletes before but now it is because there is a new generation of athletes with a different taste,” Korir added.

NOC-K is still working to release more kits for the teams that will represent Kenya at the Olympics.

“We are set to release 15 more kits for Team Kenya and the range of wear and their designs will be made public at the right time,” Mutuku said.

With Kenyan athletics fans considering the athletics kit released by Nike a miss, they can only hope that the kit NOC-K plans to release will be a hit.

The Kenyan athletic kit has moved from being ordinary running apparel. More than ever, it is now a fashion statement and Kenyans will always want it to stand for being stylish and trendy as well as maintaining a national identity.