Korir expects youngsters to defend WU-20 title despite Covid-19 disruptions

Athletics Kenya have assured the country that they will raise a strong Team Kenya for the World Under 20 Championships set for August in Nairobi despite the grave disruptions occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at the second AK World Under 20 pre-trials hosted by AK Central Rift region at the Eliud Kipchoge Sports Complex in Kapsabet, Nandi County, AK director of youth development Barnaba Korir said the federation is impressed by the calibre of athletes taking part in the events.

The first pre-trials were staged by AK Southern region in Machakos two weeks ago and Korir said the essence of going to the regions was occasioned by the fact that it was difficult to individually assess athletes at their respective 21 camps established last year.

At the regions, he said, it will be easy to identify athletes who never took part in the national pre-trials held last year at the Nyayo Stadium.

However, he added:  "The names of athletes who took part in the November 2020 pre-trials are still intact and we will add the others from the regions whom we feel have a chance to qualify and compete for Team Kenya. We don't want to have everybody at the trials even without knowing whether they have a chance to represent the country or not."

Being the defending champions from three years ago, Korir believes they will have to be at the top of their game.

"If we are asked to raise a team, I can assure you we can raise a strong one tomorrow," he said. 

But, there is still the issues of field events and sprints, which he believes are their biggest challenges slightly over two months to the event.

"There are some athletes who have shown potential, especially in javelin. Our focus is to help them attain the qualification marks and once they do, we will put them in a bubble training camp in  Kasarani," he added. 

But if they are still in school, we will provide them with equipments, offer training programmes and monitor them through their coaches," he added. This, he said, will be done as soon as next week. "I have already discussed this with the World U20 Local Organising Committee and also the stadium (management)."

Korir  observed the coronavirus has not helped their cause at all, with all aspects of their preparations taking a hit.

"We are operating in very difficult times. The biggest problem is that schools, which we had planned to use, as well as camps were closed for long durations and this made accessing and monitoring the athletes very difficult," he said.

"We also have financial problems when it comes to accessing the athletes because you have to facilitate them whenever you want them to attend a championship since they are still young and have no money,," he said.

"In a nutshell, this has been the most difficult year not only for our athletes but everybody else. However, we are doing everything to ensure they get what they require and the government has guaranteed funds. We have also received 90 pairs of shoes for the youths from Nike. We are also getting support from many other well-wishers."

Korir added they are keen to align themselves with the lessons learnt from the disruptions due to Covid-19.

"We have learnt that in life anything can happen and it is always good to be adequately prepared for any eventuality,"he said. "Our athletes will also now know better that whenever they make some money, it will be prudent to save some for a rainy season."

With two regions done, Korir expects the rest — 10 — to conduct their pre-trials by June 12.