Athletics Kenya will send a group of technical experts to Eldoret to ascertain whether Kipchoge Keino Stadium can host the national team trials for the Tokyo Olympics or not.
This follows concerns by athletics officials in the Central Rift region who fear that renovation works at the iconic stadium are progressing slowly and may not be complete by June 17-19 — the date for the trials.
"We are sending our technical experts to Eldoret on Saturday. While there, they will meet county officials and the contractor to appraise themselves with the progress of the works. They will also be able to assess the readiness of the facility, including the various aspects that will be used for the trials before giving us a report on the same," AK's director of competitions Paul Mutwii said.
Mutwii said it would be premature to talk about a venue shift until it has been determined that the stadium is in no condition to host the championships.
The Olympics trials will be an invite-only event featuring athletes who have thus far attained the qualifying mark in their respective categories.
Mutwii assured athletes that the federation will provide them with more opportunities to meet their respective qualifying marks and boost their chances for qualification.
"There are still many other events for the athletes to pursue their qualifying times even with the postponement of the Africa Senior Athletics Championships. One of the things we had planned for is a national championships-cum-trials for the African championships and whoever meets the qualifying time will still get the chance to battle for a ticket to Tokyo," he said.
The official was referring to the postponement of the continental championships for the second time since 2020, owing to the rising coronavirus infections in the North African nation.
In a press release on Wednesday evening, the Algerian Ministry of Youth and Sports said the decision was further influenced by the emergence of the new variant of the virus, which has so far wreaked havoc in India.
The championships were set for June 22-26 at Sato of the Mohamed-Boudiaf Olympic Complex in the Algerian capital.
Nonetheless, Mutwii urged all Kenyan athletes to concentrate on their training regardless of whether other upcoming international events are postponed or not.
"For us as a country, the postponement of the continental championships in Algiers does not impact our plans in a big way because we still have other events lined up to provide athletes with the chance to achieve their qualifying times. Even if other international events are postponed, life still continues. The Olympics were postponed last year and yet we survived despite how disappointing it was."
