Do you know what good infrastructure can do to bolster athlete performance at the highest level?
Well, Miramas City’s state-of-the-art facilities are what Kenya’s world-beating athletes can only dream of having when back home for national duty.
With the country seeking to better her Tokyo Olympics tally of 10 medals (4 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze), Miramas is the place where Kenyan athletes will set up a pre-Olympics boot camp in the run up to Paris 2024.
Granted, ample preparation and resources are the foundation of success for any athlete aspiring to break into the summit of sport.
Therefore, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) is leaving nothing to chance to ensure Team Kenya gets the best out of the little-known sporting city located south of France.
The facilities available for Kenya are the ultramodern indoor Stadium Miramas Metropole, Complexe Sportif Sait-Susp that is a multi-purpose arena complete with several basketball, volleyball and badminton courts, taekwondo and judo venues as well as a fully equipped modern gymnasium.
The five multi-purpose arenas in the province will all be all available for use by Team Kenya.
What’s more, there’s an outdoor stadium known as Miramas Stade des Molieres, located just 100m away from the indoor arena complete with a tartan track, a 50m international standard swimming pool, football and rugby pitches.
Stadium management confirmed that the tartan track is set for a face-lift that will see a new one set up in September and will be completed by November, well in time for Team Kenya athletes’ scheduled arrival.
Also, on offer is the Racing Club Miramas XV which is only for rugby teams.
-Indoor Arena-
Wait a minute! Stadium Miramas Metropole indoor arena is what caught our attention.
The facility has a special place in Kenyans hearts given that it is where Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala broke the national 60m record in 2022 before smashing his own record in February this year at the same venue, running a blistering 6.55secs to win at the Mondeville Indoor meeting in France.
The venue has since become a new home for Omanyala, who camped here in the run-up to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary where he reached the final.
Pascal Delon, who is in-charge of communication and administration told Capital FM Sport; “Omanyala is a star, for him to run in this indoor facility has left a positive impact in Miramas and France. Since Team Kenya came here, there is a lot of excitement in the city and it is a good thing.”
“The advantage of Kenya teams training here is the weather that I believe will help them acclimatize well in time. The international standard mondo track, gym facilities, recuperation rooms and top-notch medical facilities are out of this world,” Pascal added.
-High Class Medical facility-
On matters medical, they have installed a high-tech facility known as Medec’in System that will enable athletes to get tested and get in-touch with their respective doctors wherever they will be on the globe.
“The medical system has been installed here for the first time in France. This new technology will detect an injury from the athletes and they will be able to connect with their doctors online wherever they will be.”
The indoor stadium was given approval by the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 to be the preparation center for the games’ athletics, badminton and Paralympics.
The 5,500-capacity venue comprises a 200m circular track with six lanes, a central track of 60m with eight corridors, two necklaces with a pole for the pole vault, two long jumps with triple jump, a 300m warm-up track installed under the 360 degrees bleachers.
Also incorporated are the multiple weight rooms, a gymnasium for group sports training and competitions and a long perch necklace for training purposes and a motorized launch area that is unique in France.
Miramas is a hot bed of sports talent in France, thanks to its proximity to Marseille and the various sports facilities it possesses, churning out reputed athletes like Franch women’s footballer star Sakina Karchaoui among others.
It is approximately 63km distance from Miramas to Marseille airport and due to these advantages, countries like Ethiopia, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Uganda had expressed interest to pitch camp at the city.
The city also owns a F1 facility referred to as The Circuit of Miramas located within 2km of the town.
In 1926 it hosted the French Grand Prix which was won by Frenchman Jules Goux driving a Bugatti T39A.
Today the racetrack is owned by BMW and used as a vehicle test track.
The province is very scenic providing a wonderful place for Kenyan athletes to relax and refresh as they can visit the natural Lake Bourget which is the deepest lake in France, and either the largest or second largest after Lac de Grand-Lieu depending on season.
