• He warned coaches and games teachers against age cheating. “Age cheating is a very serious offence just like doping.
•He said any athlete with a birth certificate issued in the year 2000 and 2001 will not be allowed to take part in the under 20 event.
Athletics Kenya is confidentTeam Kenya will retain the overall title during the World Under 20 Championships to be held in Nairobi in August.
“We have so far held pre-trials in five out of the 12 regions and we are impressed with the calibre of athletes participating in these events,” said AK youth and development committee acting secretary, Joseph Ilovi.
So far, Southern, South Rift, Central Rift, Nairobi and Nyanza South have held their pre-trials. Nyanza South held their event at Kisii University yesterday while other regions will hold their championships next week on Thursday.
Ilovi, who was accompanied by Nyanza South region chairman, Peter Angwenyi added: “The times, distance and height posted by the athletes is impressive. I’m confident Kenya will select a team that will represent the country and win the overall title. We are targeting more medals than we won in Finland three years ago.”
He spoke at Kisii University during the AK Nyanza North regional pre-trials. The championship was used to select probable athletes for the national trials to be held at Nyayo National Stadium on July 1-3. He said only invited athletes will be allowed at the national trials.
“Athletes will only be allowed at the stadium on the day they are competing and there will be no fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” added Ilovi.
The Ministry of Education’s Eliud Wambua echoed Ilovi’s sentiments. “Kenya will field a quality team that will win the overall under-20 title,” said Wambua.
He warned coaches and games teachers against age cheating. “Age cheating is a very serious offence just like doping. Any teacher who participates in falsifying a student’s age will be dealt with by the police. Let students be students and the culture of recycling students stop,” said Wambua who also addressed coaches at the venue.
He said any athlete with a birth certificate issued in the year 2000 and 2001 will not be allowed to take part in the under 20 event.
The 400m women’s event lived up to expectations with national secondary schools champion Mercy Oketch (58:62) upsetting experienced Linda Kageha (59:90) to second place. Loice Morara (59:41) settled to third position. Kageha won both the short put and discuss titles.