A Kenyan female boxer has been forced to surrender her spot in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in order to land a job in the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF).
Veronica Mbithe was recently recruited to join KDF, and the training is supposed to start on March 25, ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games.
She says she tried to convince those in charge of KDF training to let her participate in the games before she can join the training but to no avail.
“KDF has rules that can’t be changed. I have no otherwise but to go to Eldoret on Sunday for a seven month’s KDF training. They have told me that after training, they will give me enough time to train so that I fulfill my dream of becoming a competent boxer,” Mbithe is quoted by bbc.com/swahili.
“It was not an easy decision to surrender my spot in the Commonwealth Games team. My fellow boxers, coaches, and parents advised me to join KDF,” she added.
Veronica Mbithe has been a boxer since 2014. The light-flight-weight boxer is a member of the Dallas boxing Club in Muthurwa, Nairobi.
This year’s edition of Commonwealth games will be held between April 4 and 15 in Australia.