NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 24 – Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei says the federation’s long-term objective is to transform the national cross country championships into a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
This year’s edition, held on Saturday at the Kenya Prisons Training College in Ruiru, was classified as a Continental Tour bronze event – which is the third most prestigious level of event in WA’s calendar of one-day meets.
“We requested World Athletics to give us a chance to host certain events for qualification and ranking system. So, this is one of those events and that is why you hear it is a bronze level event. And the athletes are receiving a little something (cash prize) because it is now at a higher level. In fact, after bronze we want to promote it to silver level and maybe to the gold level, eventually,” Tuwei said.
The president further announced that plans for the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour, set for February 4 at Lobo village, were at an advanced stage and expects a huge contingent of Kenyans to compete at the World Cross Country Tour Gold event.
“That is a different event where we invite a number of athletes and they also get money. We want to promote our athletes in such a manner that at the end of the day they leave with something because of the level of competition that is there. We want to give everyone a chance to compete and improve their ranking system…that is why we had our national trials and then the national cross country championships,” he said.
As a bronze level event, the national cross country championships also attracted athletes from other countries, including Uganda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
It is the penultimate cross country competition in the country before the rescheduled World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia on February 18 where Team Kenya will be seeking to extend their dominance at the global event.
Tuwei encouraged all athletes to take advantage of the cross country season to prepare themselves for the grueling track and field season, which comprises major international competitions.
“We have a lot of other events coming up this year…we have the Africa Under 18 and Under 20 championships in Lusaka (Zambia), the World Championships (in Budapest) and the World Indoor Tour and so forth and so forth. As an athlete, if you don’t run in these cross country races, you will not be able to perform well in these upcoming competitions because you will not be well prepared,” he said.
Buzzing for Bathurst
Regarding Team Kenya’s preparations for the World Cross Country Championships, Tuwei said everything is smoothsailing and is hopeful that their travel arrangements will unfurl without any major hitches.
“Usually, we use the national championships as the trials to select the team but this time round we decided to hold the trials a bit earlier for the sake of visa issues and travel arrangements. We want the team to arrive in Australia on time, to acclimatise to the weather conditions in time for the competition,” he said.
The team, which are currently training at the Kigari Teachers’ Training College in Embu, are expected to receive their kits as well as allowances.
