By JOSEPH NGURE
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David Okeyo |
Athletics Kenya is not going to allow individual entrants during this year’s IAAF Permit Cross Country Championships, which is sponsored by Kenya Commercial Bank.
The federation said only representatives from the affiliates and athletes from other countries will be allowed to take part during the championships slated for February 15.
The meet, which is sanctioned by IAAF as the last of its Permit Cross Country series, has also been changed from Ngong Race Course to Uhuru Gardens where it has been taking place for the last five years.
“We have already set the deadline for all the regions and other institutions to submit a list of only 24 participants - six in each category and three officials. This is national championships that will be used to select the national team for the Africa Cross Country Championships. No individuals will be allowed,” said AK Vice President David Okeyo.
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Okeyo said as opposed to the past when some senior runners used to wait until the trials, participants must have taken part in their affiliates before competing at the nationals.
“Quality must be maintained. All cross-country hopefuls have to show their commitment from the grass roots. This is the rule and it must be followed if we have to select the right team,” added Okeyo, who is also the President of the IAAF Cross Country and Road Race Committee.
National battle
With the championships moving continentally this year, Kenya will use the February 15 meet to select the national team to represent the nation in the Africa Cross Country competition in Kampala, Uganda, on March 15.
All the 17 affiliates that include 12 regions and five institutions completed their qualifiers last weekend for the annual national battle.
Barnaba Korir, the Nairobi branch AK chairman, said the move to rule out individual athletes was welcome.
“All athletes need to compete from the grassroots level to allow development of the sport from the regions. They should not take a short cut to the nationals and must stand on equal footing with the others in national championships. It is not possible for an athlete to save energy for the nationals only,” said Korir.
He added that aking the national championships to Ngong Race course from Uhuru Gardens was not a good idea.
—jngure@standardmedia.co.ke