Kenya's Maasai warriors gather to celebrate "Maasai Olympics," a rite of passage

A Maasai Moran falls after throwing a javelin as he competes in in a social sporting event dubbed the Maasai Olympics to offer the warriors an alternative to killing lions as part of their traditional rite of passage, in the Kimana sanctuary, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, near the Kenya-Tanzania border in Kimana, Kajiado, Kenya December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

KIMANA SANCTUARY, Kenya (Reuters) - Hundreds of youths from the Maasai pastoralists in Kenya gathered on Saturday at a wildlife sanctuary to participate in "Maasai Olympics," a ceremony promoted by conservationists as an alternative rite of passage for young men in the community.

The spectacle, in which youthful morans or warriors compete in various games and takes place once every two years, was held in Kimana Sanctuary on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro near Kenya's border with Tanzania.