Tokyo 2025: Adhiambo ready to steer Kenya basketball team to deaflympics glory

Boasting a wealth of experience, which includes playing with non-hearing-impaired players, 34-year-old Winnie Adhiambo will be one of Kenya’s key players at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics Games set for November 15 to 26 in Japan.

Kenya will be competing in the women’s basketball at the 25th edition of the Summer Games for the third consecutive time after debuting in the 2017 showpiece held in Samsun, Turkey.

Beyond being the team’s pillar owing to her vast experience, Adhiambo will also lead from the front as captain, a new role she has fully embraced.

She has set her sights on guiding Kenya to a historic medal finish.

“We have been training so hard and our main aim is to make it to the podium (in Tokyo),” said Adhiambo on the sideline of the team’s training at USIU-Africa Grounds in Nairobi.

The mother of one said she embraced the sport at the age of 19 after being inspired by friends.

Although she did not enjoy the game at first, her passion for it grew over time. She features for Footprints in the Kenya Basketball Federation League.

“At times I have been training with the hearing friends and also participating in their league. That has been of great benefit to me. For example, you find that players in the hearing team are very fast so that helps me to be a good player.

“I also share with my colleague (in the Deaf basketball team) what I have learned on the other side (KBF),” said Adhiambo, who dreams of being a basketball coach in the future.

“Kenya’s coach Mary Chepkoi said they settled on Adhiambo as the team’s captain owing to her leadership skills and courage to compete with non-hearing-impaired players.

“She is not limited to the Deaf team. She is this person who is outgoing and ready to compete in any platform, so that's the courage and leadership we need in the squad,” said Chepkoi who also coached the team in the 2022 Games held in Caxias Do Sul,  Brazil.

In Brazil, Kenya recorded a historic maiden win against the hosts, a performance they are keen to improve on.

Ahead of the Tokyo Games, Adhiambo said the team needs to sharpen both their offense and defense as well as work on key drills such as man marking.

Kenya are in Group “A” alongside giants Italy, Lithuania, and Australia. According to Chepkoi, the team of 20 players has been training three times a week—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

“Having gotten players from different regions, they have not been exposed to training, so there are a couple of fundamentals of basketball that we are still working on,” she said.

“We won one game at that time (in Brazil). We are looking forward to posting better results this time around. We are looking forward to picking a win in the group stages,” she said, singling out Lithuania their biggest threat.

On her part, Christine Kirui, the chairperson of the Kenya Deaf Basketball Federation, said they expect the team to win a medal in Tokyo.

“As a federation, we are promising Kenyans that when we reach Tokyo in Japan, we are going to get a medal and bring it home. We know that is what will make Kenyans proud, so we will give our best,” said Kirui.