NAIROBI, Kenya, March 18 – Athletes participating at next weekend’s national trials for the Africa Under 18 and Under 20 Athletics Championships will need to provide an original birth certificate, national identity card or a valid passport before they are allowed to compete.
This is part of the measures instituted by Athletics Kenya federation to curb against age cheating where athletes falsify and lower their ages to gain undue advantage over other competitors.
In a statement, the federation said they will be hawk-eyed to ensure that only athletes who meet the age requirements are allowed to compete.
“Athletics Kenya invites all athletes in the categories below to participate: any athlete aged 16 or 17 years on December 31 may compete in any event; any athlete aged 18 or 19 years on December 31 may compete in the Under 20 events,” the federation said in a statement.
It continued: “Vetting will be done before an athlete is allowed to participate and must present original birth certificate, valid passport or national identification card to the vetting panel.”
Furthermore, AK have urged all athletes participating in the event to ensure they have all the requisite travel documents should they be selected in the final team.
In the past, various Kenyan athletes and other sportspersons have missed out on the chance to fly the national flag at international competitions due to lack of a valid passport as well as failure to secure a visa on time.
The trials come hot on the heels of last week’s East Africa Regional Athletics Championships in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where Kenya took the lion’s share of the medals, topping the standings with 24 gold, 10 silver and three bronze.
Kenya will be hoping to continue the dominant performance at the continental youth showpiece, slated for April 29 to May 3 in Lusaka, Zambia.
Most importantly, Team Kenya will be out to reclaim its reign as the giants of African athletics at the youth level, following on from the last edition of the championships in Ivory Coast in 2019 where the country finished second on the medal table with 17 gold, 16 silver and 11 bronze.
South Africa topped the medal standings with 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.
