President William Ruto to host triumphant Olympians in Eldoret

Africa won 39 medals - 14 gold, 12 silver, and 14 bronze -- at the just concluded 2024 Paris Olympic Games with Kenya ranking top in the continent with 11 medals -- 4 gold, 2 silver, and five bronze medals. Globally, Kenya ranked 17th.

Kenya's medal haul in the French capital is five more than the continent's next most successful, South Africa, whose representatives returned home with six podium finishes -- one gold, three silvers, and two bronzes.

Ten other African countries won at least one medal at the 33rd Olympiad and there have been wild celebrations in Botswana, Cape Verde, and Zambia where the countries welcomed historic medals that put them on the map globally.

The internet is awash with images of countries welcoming their heroes back home, with medalists being escorted into their country's capital in celebration caravans.

Similar scenes were witnessed in at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on Tuesday night when the last group of Kenya's triumphant representatives from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games jetted into the country.

"We are thrilled to welcome home the final group of our Team Kenya athletes, led by 800m gold medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi, marathon bronze medalist Benson Kipruto, and 5000m silver medalist Ronald Kwemoi, who proudly represented us at the Paris 2024 Olympics," Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen said in a statement on Twitter (X).

Beatrice Chebet (a double gold medalist in the women's 10 000 metres and women's 5 000 metres) and Faith Kipyegon (gold medalist in the women's 1 500 metres and silver medalist in the women's 5 000 metres) had landed in shortly before Wanyonyi's group.

"Delighted to join Kenyans from all walks of life to welcome back home our Team Kenya athletes at JKIA after their commendable performance in the 2024 Paris World Olympics. This was the first batch of athletes, which included team captain Faith Kipyegon, double gold medalist Beatrice Chebet, and 800m runner Koitatoi Kidali," Murkomen said in another statement on Twitter (X).

Kenya's other medalists were Abraham Kibiwott (bronze, men's 3 000 metres steeplechase), Faith Cherotich (bronze, women's 3 000 metres steeplechase), Hellen Obiri (bronze, women's marathon), and Mary Moraa (bronze, women's 800 metres).

While there were was no massive celebration caravan to escort Chebet, Kipruto, Kipyegon, Kwemoi, and Kwemoi into the city with partying lasting long into the night, that does not mean that there are no grand plans Kenya's medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

President William Ruto is expected to host the country's triumphant Olympians in a breakfast meeting at the Eldoret State Lodge before hosting them yet again to another grand reception at the Eldoret Sports Club, where the athletes will enter in a jubilant convoy.

The medalists will arrive in Kenya's soon-to-be fifth city from Nairobi on Thursday aboard the President's jet.

The hosting of the athletes in Eldoret will coincide with the celebrations held to mark the conferment of city status to the town dubbed "the City of Champions".

The athletes will be part of those celebrations at the Eldoret Sports Club where President Ruto will hand over Eldoret's city charter to the Governor of Uasin Gishu County, Jonathan Bii.

The President was to hand over the city charter to Eldoret on Thursday last week but the exercise was postponed to this week and with the athletes expected to grace the occasion, the event is expected to be even more colourful.