K24 Tv sports reporter/anchor Kelvin Kimathi has been nominated for the prestigious AIPS sports media Awards 2021. Kimathi is the only Kenyan to be nominated in the category of young reporters under 30 in the broadcast Division which saw 12 other nominees from different nations across the world making the cut-off to the 3rd stage of the voting process.
The second voting stage was exclusively carried out by the AIPS (International Sports Press Association ) Executive Committee members (representing 24 different nations) after which they present the shortlisted candidates to the jury.
The 26 years old was nominated after his inspiring story of Kenyan athlete Margaret Nyairera wamboi, a mid-distance runner in the 800 meters.
In his story, the former KTN reporter highlighted how Nyairera struggled with depression and her battle to qualify for the Olympics following the world athletics Transgender rule which forbid her to participate in certain races due to her high testosterone levels.
Nyairera won her fast international Gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships. But it was later discovered in 2019 that Nyairera was born with the intersex condition after she qualified for IAAF women’s competition. That affected her participation following the association’s new regulations that bars athletes with intersex disorders, testosterone levels above 5 nmol/L, and androgen sensitivity. Since then she has never participated in any competition.
Kimathi’s story impressed the Judges and he will be a competitor in the third stage where 10 finalists will be selected before being trimmed to 3 podium Nominees.
The final ceremony will take place in May in Europe on a date and location to be communicated. The young Reporters category has three divisions- Broadcasting, Photography, and Writing.
The overall winner in this category would walk away with an original trophy and USD 8000 cash prize while the second-placed will receive USD 3.000 and the third-placed USD 2.000.
Winners of each of the “Young Reporters” categories (Photography, Writing, and Broadcasting) will receive a career-boost opportunity and a scholarship to a major international sports event
Sila Kiplagat, another Kenyan from the Nation Media Group was also nominated in the photography category while Samuel Gacharira with his Amy Lasu: Shining hope for South Sudanese football made the cut-off to the top prize. Gacharira was nominated in the writing category. He writes for the nation. Africa
Kimathi started his career as an intern at K24TV in early 2016 after graduating from the Multimedia University of Kenya.
Later on, he joined Ktn news as a sports reporter in 2018 before Moving to switch TV and assume the same role. K24 poached him back in August 2020 and he is the 7 pm sports anchor and the host of La Liga Satimaa.
He is also the host of the Jungu La sport, a show that runs every day from Monday to Friday
below is the story Kelvin Kimathi Did about Margaret Nyairera’s tribulations
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