Veteran Kenya Sevens Rugby star Humphrey Kayange has been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Kayange becomes the first Kenyan and East African rugby athlete to be on the 164-person Hall of Fame list. The list aims to celebrate those who have inspired and developed the game from humble origins.
Kayange has been inducted alongside Osea Kolinisau of Fiji, Huriana Manuel-Carpenter of New Zealand, Cheryl McAfee of Australia, Will Carling of England and Jim Telfer of Scotland.
He played for both the Kenya 15s and Sevens teams between 2004 and 2016. He is a veteran of 12 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series along with his brother Collins Injera.
A Master graduate in Chemistry by profession, Kayange helped the Shujaa rugby team reach two Rugby World Cup Sevens semi-finals, in 2009. In the same year, Injera was nominated for World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year. He again received the award in 2013.
He also appeared at two Commonwealth Games, in 2010 and 2014, and was a member of the team that won Kenya’s first-ever World Series Cup title in Singapore in 2016. He finished his career on the World Series as Kenya’s third highest points scorer in sevens, with 799 points and 159 tries. In the 15s series, Kayange scored four tries in 12 tests as a hard-running centre.
In August this year, Kayange was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission and as an IOC Member. The IOC Athletes’ Commission comprises members elected by athletes to represent them in the Olympic Movement. Through them, the views of the athletes are represented and resources to assist athletes are shared. The rugby star secured the position after receiving the highest number of votes of the African candidates who vied in the election.