Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei has reiterated the country's quest to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships after missing out on the 2025 event.
While answering questions from journalists in Eldoret during a Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour press briefing, Tuwei said the country has what it takes to host a major athletics event, following recent successes in Wolrd Under 18, World Under 20, Kip Keino Classic and the World Athletics Cross Country Tour.
“We applied in 2019 during the Doha World championships. I took the letter personally and you cannot host a world event in a country before getting the government clearance. We approached the government and allowed us to apply to host the world championships in 2025,” he said.
“We wanted to be the first to host a World Championships event in Africa but we lost (to Japan). Therefore, I'm not thinking of hosting another World Cross Country Championships before we do the World Championships. We are going to try again but I don’t think we can do the 2027 event. The reason why we lost 2025 is because of lack of infrastructure and we, therefore, have to take our time and ensure we meet all the requirements,” said Tuwei.
Tuwei said building infrastructure and the fight against doping will, in the meantime, take precedence.
“We better fight doping and come out of it successfully as opposed to asking to host the World Championships in 2027. That's why my executive and I are looking at 2029, which will will certainly bid for,” said Tuwei.
