NAIROBI, Kenya, April 25, 2025 – Outgoing National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) president Paul Tergat is hopeful history will judge him fairly for what he has done during his eight years in office.
Tergat says his reign as NOCK supremo has offered him valuable lessons on being a leader in the sports industry.
“The time has come for me to hand over. I hope during my term of office, I have met your expectations as a team. It has been a privilege and honour yo serve you. The last 8 years has been fulfilling and offered me experience to understand the workings of the sports ecosystem,” the five-time World Cross Country champion said.
Tergat first rose to the helm of NOCK in September 2017 when he was elected unopposed amid a committee that was still reeling from the effects of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics scandal in 2016.
The two-time world silver medalist was then handed a fresh four-year mandate in 2021, in an election in which majority of NOCK’s top officials retained their seats.
Reflecting on his tenure, Tergat enumerated the progress made and lessons learnt.
“I believe that during my tenure nock has changed for the better and is different from the one that we joined in 2017. We faced the Covid crisis that grounded everything to a halt. Nonetheless, we took all this in our stride and strengthened the spirit of Olympics,” he said.
Tergat added: “The lessons we have learnt is to be more responsive to the needs of athletes. It has not always been rosy during my tenure. We have been under public scrutiny and even been blamed for acts of commission and omission by some of our member federations in team selection.”
As he prepares to head into the sunset, the former marathon world record holder has asked the incoming team to remain cognisant of athletes’ welfare and embrace servant leadership.
“I have been a proponent of good governance as seen in the cohesion of the team. I am grateful to you all because my work as president would have been much more difficult without your support. May the interests of our athletes who sweat it out be the enduring reminder as we serve in our different capacities,” he said.
Tergat will have to wait a little longer before handing over the baton to a new team following the postponement of the polls that were earlier scheduled for Thursday.
This is after four federations — Kenya Handball Federation (KHF), Kenya Triathlon Federation, Kenya Taekwondo Federation and Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) — failed to agree on which one of their officials will be allowed to vote.
Deliberations on the same are ongoing to reach a middle ground within the affected federations.
NOCK secretary general Francis Mutuku and first deputy president Shadrack Maluki are vying to succeed Tergat.
