Athletes who do not provide correct details of their names and ages will not be allowed to compete at this weekend's national trials for the World Under-20 or even represent the country at the global showpiece.
Athletics Kenya (AK) director for youth development, Barnaba Korir, said the federation will scrutinise every document provided by the junior trialists to ensure they fulfil World Athletics' age requirements for participating in the junior event.
"We will require all of them to provide us with original copies of their birth certificates and baptismal certificates.
"And since some of them are over 18 years, we will require a copy of their ID cards or passports.
"Not only that but also we will check if any of the athletes had previously entered under a different name from the one listed on the documents provided, even if its from the government.
"We will scrutinise carefully to ensure what is indicated is the right name and age of the athlete," Korir said.
The age rules of WA dictate that athletes competing in the competition must be 19 years or younger on December 31 of the year of the junior event.
Korir said AK's campaign to clamp on age cheating began last year and has been religiously applied at various competitions ever since.
"We are going to be very strict. We did that during the national cross country where some athletes had legitimate documents but they had previously given us a different name and age from the one indicated. When we went back to their schools, we discovered they were cheating and in that case we have the right to stop you from competing," he said.
Nonetheless, for those who meet the age requirements, Korir said the federation has done everything to afford them a chance to fight for a ticket to represent the country at the August 17-22 championship at Moi Stadium Kasarani.
"Last year we had pre-trials where we selected 80 athletes to get into the training camp.
"However, we could not do that because of the subsequent cessation of sporting activities thus we had to continue with our plan of holding pre-trials.
"We have allowed even those who did not participate in the pre-trials to compete in the trials, including one from Switzerland who is a high jumper. That is why we have close to 500 athletes competing," Korir explained.
He exuded confidence the host nation will reign supreme at the global event, pointing to the fact that Kenya will be allowed at least one entry in every competition category — even if they do not meet the qualification mark.
