NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27, 2026 – In a heartwarming display of public solidarity, Kenyan freestyle skater Kevin Kiarie has officially taken flight for a 10-day intensive training camp in Sichuan, China.
His departure marks a dramatic, citizen-funded rescue just days after he was forced to abort his initial travel plans due to a severe financial crisis.
Taking to social media hours before boarding his flight, a relieved and optimistic Kiarie shared the milestone directly with his supporters.
“Hello guys, so I am off to China. My flight leaves at 6 am through Doha and I’ll arrive tomorrow. I’ll be there for 10 days so let’s see what this trip brings,” he said.
Kiarie, who brought the nation pride by securing double gold medals in freestyle battle and classic slalom at the African Skating Championships in Cairo, Egypt, was originally scheduled to fly out last week.
He had secured a highly coveted spot in the Sichuan High-T International Inline Freestyle Competition Exchange Programme in Chengdu.
The elite training camp offers exposure to world-class coaching from High-T, widely considered one of the most formidable freestyle skating factions globally.
However, despite public commitments from the Ministry of Sports at Talanta Plaza, promising to reward him under the national athlete recognition policy, the funds failed to materialize in time.
Grounded and heartbroken, Kiarie released an emotional video announcing he had missed his initial flight due to a lack of institutional support.
Refusing to let the continental champion’s dream fade, ordinary Kenyans rallied online to bridge the gap.
Within days of his public appeal, well-wishers quickly mobilized and contributed roughly Ksh 150,000 to cover his emergency flights, transit logistics, and accommodation expenses.
On Sunday, he revealed that the ministry had wired him only Ksh 870,000 out of the Ksh 2.78 million that was due to him.
Furthermore, Kiarie divulged he was only reimbursed Ksh 380,000 out of the Ksh 1.28 million promised for the expenses incurred at the Africa Championships in Egypt.
Poster boy of resilience
This is not the first time the public has had to carry the athlete, during his successful continental campaign in Egypt, Kiarie similarly had to crowdsource over Ksh 220,000 through TikTok donations to fund his travel.
Kiarie’s entire professional trajectory embodies pure resilience.
He famously began his skating journey in 2017 as a student at the Technical University of Kenya, purchasing his very first pair of second-hand skates from Gikomba Market using a portion of his Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) student loan.
Without proper skating facilities in Nairobi, he has spent years sharpening his elite, championship-winning tricks in basements, empty car parks, and public pavements.
Now, with the financial backing of the Kenyan people and professional-grade gear previously gifted to him by an international well-wisher in Singapore, Kiarie has bypassed bureaucratic hurdles.
As he transits through Doha toward Chengdu, the double-African champion carries more than just his skates, he carries the collective goodwill of a nation that refused to let his talent be grounded.
