NAIROBI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Veteran volleyball official Waithaka Kioni will lead the Kenya team to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 after he was named the Chef de Mission as the country started its one-year count down to the Games.

Kenya had their best performance in the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 with six gold, six silver and one bronze medals. Now Kioni has thrown down the gauntlet to his elite athletes to go to Tokyo and surpass that historic performance under his leadership.

"The goal is to improve on our last performance and that means we have to get it right in the preparation phase. I am determined to ensure that our athletes get the best preparations so that they can be fully focused on their respective competitions," Kioni said on Thursday in Nairobi.

"I will do everything in my capacity to ensure that all goes as planned as I work hand in hand with the National Olympic Committee."

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) chairman Paul Tergat says Kenya will have a quality team in all the disciplines.

"I am confident if we join hands we will have the strongest brand for Kenya team. Let's make it happen and make it big," Tergat said in Nairobi.

Kenya first participated in the Olympics in 1956 but had to wait for eight years before winning its first medal in Tokyo in 1964. Wilson Kiprugut Chumo was the first Kenyan and African to win an Olympic medal when he bagged the bronze in the 800 meters race.