(in absentia) for consistently performing well at the highest level
Harambee Stars star forward Michael Olunga was named the most outstanding male sports personality of the year 2021. Olunga was feted in absentia at the 2021 SOYA awards ceremony held in Naivasha on Saturday, February 21, 2021.
Despite 2020 having been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Olunga has had an outstanding year, becoming the top scorer for Kashiwa Reysol in his maiden season in the Japanese top-flight league.
The Kenyan forward, who is also a product of Liberty Football Academy owned by national team coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, was at some point expected to follow in the footsteps of national team captain and former Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder Victor Wanyama and announce his arrival in the lucrative UK Premier league.
He however chose a different route, and still marked his career with consistently eye-catching performances in Asia. On December 22, 2020, the 26-year-old alumnus of Upper Hill High School was named the Most Valuable Player in the Meiji Yasuda J-League.
Shadrack Wambui was recognized
as the 2020 Community Hero
was awarded as the outstanding sportsman
living with a disability at the 2021 SOYA Awards.
Marathon legend Paul Tergat hands over an award to Videliz Njoki,
a deaf tennis player. She’s doing a great job in sensitising the deaf girls in her community on sexual reproductive health.
The development came a couple of days after the forward bagged the Golden Boot Award, having netted 28 times in 34 league matches for Kashiwa Reysol, with all but one of these goals coming from open play.
It was unsurprising that Olunga’s exploits earned him a big move to Qatari side Al Duhail SC, where he has already scored four times, and ultimately, recognition as top sport personality at SOYA 2021.
Olunga could however not make it for Harambee Stars’ back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
World Half Marathon record-holder Peres Jepchirchir was recognized in the same capacity at SOYA as well.
Jepchirchir won the award ahead of Tokyo Olympics bound boxer Christine Ongare and Taekwondo’s Faith Ogallo.
Jepchirchir was in fine fettle in 2020, dominating road running, and recapturing the world half marathon title in style in Gdynia, Poland on October 17.
receiving an award as the outstanding woman living with a disability
Her time of one hour, 05 minutes and 16 seconds was enough to see Jepchirchir better her own women’s half marathon world record by 18 seconds, remarkably, lowering the mark for the second time in 6 weeks to a new time of 1:05:34 in Prague.
She ended the year in style, winning the Valencia marathon in December clocking 2:17:06, hence getting the thumbs up at SOYA 2021.
