Athletics Kenya are considering holding trials for 4x400m men’s relay in Zambia after sporting activities across the country were suspended in the wake of the third wave of coronavirus pandemic.
AK’s director of competitions, Paul Mutwii, said the federation is exploring the logistics involved in actualising this plan.
“We are thinking of having the athletes travel to Zambia and compete on Saturday and Sunday so that we can have a team for the 4x400m relays. Of course, we are still discussing the logistics around the same. Fortunately, our female team in the same race category have already qualified,” Mutwii said.
He further said the athletes will be competing against other countries, such as Botswana, South Africa and hosts Zambia in accordance with the requirement. Qualification rules demands that the 4x400m relay races should have teams from at least three federations.
“We had invited relay teams from other countries to compete against our local athletes in the trials. However, this was not to be after the new corona measures,” he said.
Among the countries which had been invited for the World Relay Championships trials, initially slated for April 1-3, included Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria and Ghana.
Mutwii added that the federation will select the representatives for the other relay races after ascertaining the ones the country has already qualified.
The relay team has been hard at work in a bubble training camp at Moi Stadium, Kasarani for the past two months.
AK had set in place a rigorous and meticulous plan to select Team Kenya to the World Relay Championships in Selesia, Poland on May 1-2, including a three-legged series of competitions.
Mutwii bemoaned the turn of events in the country, noting its potential effect on the sprinters’ performance at the world stage.
“Athletes have not had the chance to gauge themselves against other countries as we had planned and yes, this may affect their performance. They are continually training at their bubble camp and so far, we have not received any new changes or interruptions to their training,” he said.