The Kenyan cross country team will continue training at Kigari Teachers Training College despite the postponement of the Africa Cross Country Championships initially slated for March 6-7 in Lome, Togo.
Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei said the 42 athletes will remain in camp until the Confederation of African Athletics clears the air on certain issues about the rescheduling of the championships.
"We have written a letter to CAA requesting them to clarify on which precise date Lome would be in a position to host the event. We need to know whether it is same month of March or in next month of April or much later. We are waiting for CAA to respond to that," Tuwei said.
Tuwei revealed AK have also requested the continental body to clarify about the possibility of a change of venue.
"Could there be a possibility of another country hosting the event so that the athletes can still get the chance to compete. When Lome requested for the postponement of the championships from 2020 to this year, no other country was approached to host the event. We hope CAA will communicate either today or tomorrow and then we will communicate the same to all stakeholders," he said.
According to a statement by CAA on Wednesday evening, Togolese authorities had requested for a postponement of the event to a later date as the West African nation continues to battle against a raging coronavirus pandemic, which has thus far claimed 82 lives.
The biennial event was initially scheduled for last year but pushed to this year owing to the virus.
Tuwei apologised to the athletes as well as other stakeholders inconvenienced by the latest developments.
"I hope their morale will not be affected. Yesterday, a group of AK officials were in Embu to give them their allowances and we spoke to them about the issue. As a matter of fact, they were in high spirits. We would also like to apologise to Togo because we know it is not their wish for things to turn out the way they have," Tuwei, who is also the CAA vice-president, said.
He asked them to use this period of cross country training to sharpen themselves for other, upcoming competitions.
The president also touched on this weekend's Kilimanjaro Marathon, from which the federation barred Kenyan athletes from participating due to increasing cases of Covid-19 in Tanzania.
"We want to prioritise the health and safety of our athletes above all else. That's why we ask those who had wanted to participate to skip it at least for this year. We will continue to advise them on the way forward as we have always done," he said.
