Kenya Sevens speedster Patrick Odongo launches his foundation
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 06.01.26. | 14:32
For Odongo, giving back to the community represents a deeply personal journey; one shaped by moments of profound loss, overwhelming support, and resilience
Kenya Sevens winger Patrick Odongo has taken a significant step off the pitch by launching the Patrick Odongo Foundation, a community-based initiative aimed at nurturing children through rugby and education.
The Daystar University student announced the foundation through his social media platforms, noting that it will fuel his desire to create opportunities beyond his playing career.
“Active on the field, intentional beyond it. Patrick Odongo is a Kenyan International rugby player and a university student; still competing, still building. While the game continues, so does the responsibility, creating access, structure, and guidance for children early.
Today, we introduce the Patrick Odongo Foundation, a community-based initiative growing children through education and rugby. And this is just the beginning. More to come,” the post read.
For Odongo, giving back to the community represents a deeply personal journey; one shaped by moments of profound loss, overwhelming support, and resilience.
In 2024, his family faced a critical health crisis when his father, a car mechanic in his mid-60s, was diagnosed with a blocked heart valve that required urgent surgery.
The family needed 16 pints of blood and Kshs1.5 million to cover the life-saving procedure.
The Kenya Rugby Union swiftly rallied support, issuing a public appeal for blood and financial assistance.
The response was extraordinary.
Contributions poured in from school friends, teammates, fans of Kenya Sevens, and members of the wider Kenyan public.
Even Her Excellency Pastor Dr Dorcas Rigathi, the former Second Lady of Kenya, made a personal donation.
The fundraising drive ensured Odongo’s father received the treatment he needed, and years later, he has returned to fixing cars and is close to stopping the medication he has been on since the operation.
Those events left Odongo deeply indebted to the rugby fraternity and the nation at large.
The winger’s bond with the sport was tested even earlier.
In 2023, he lost his mother, Sophia Atieno Ogak, just days before the Africa Men’s Sevens tournament that also served as Olympic qualifiers.
Despite the emotional toll, Odongo travelled with the squad and delivered when it mattered most.
He scored seven tries during the tournament, playing a pivotal role in Kenya’s win.
The crowning moment came when Kenya stunned favorites, South Africa, 17–12 in the final to clinch the title and secure an automatic ticket to the Olympic Games.
The victory was dedicated to Atieno, whose greatest dream was to see her son represent Kenya at the international level.
Since then, Odongo has continued to repay that faith through his performances on the world stage.
On the HSBC SVNS Series, the fleet-footed winger finished the season with an impressive 22 tries, just four shy of joint top scorers Joji Nasova of Fiji and Argentina’s Marcos Moneta, who both ended on 26.
Speed remains Odongo’s most obvious weapon. The youngster is reported to have clocked 9.99 seconds in the 100m at the national trials.
While the wind conditions on the day are unknown and only times with a tailwind below 2.0m/s are considered wind-legal by World Athletics, such a performance, if legal, would place him among the fastest athletes ever to play elite rugby.
For comparison, Carlin Isles, long regarded as rugby’s fastest man during his stint with the USA between 2012 and 2022, recorded a wind-legal 10.15s in 2016 and a wind-assisted 10.13s in 2012.
