Central Rift Athletics Kenya officials have welcomed the move by Athletics Kenya to devolve 2020 Olympic Games national trial to Eldoret despite lack of quality facilities to host the national event.
This will be the third time Eldoret will be hosting the national trials and second time Olympic Games trials are hosted in the town where A.K will be selecting a formidable team ahead of Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
For the second time, the federation will be hosting the national championships away from capital Nairobi to Eldoret Club as Central Rift Chairman Abraham Mutai has confidence that athletics has come back to their owners.
With lack of facilities, the only available place is Kipchoge Keino stadium that is closed for renovation.
“This is the right time for Eldoret to prove that it is indeed the City of champions. We want to host this national event that will be remarkable national and internationally. We want to break the jinx of hosting the championships as we welcome all stakeholders to come in place,” said Mutai.
He insisted that Athletics Kenya has devolved the sport and them want fans to enjoy watching their sons and daughters compete on the home soil since Eldoret is the epicentre of all athletics in the country.
He added that they want fans to throng to Eldoret for the event slated for June 19th to 21st.
“Such events have been viewed as a way of Sports tourism in the country. As sports administrators, we want to impress diversity. Sports is not owned by anybody. It brings people together,” said Mutai.
He added that the spirit of devolution is working in sports and they want the event to go round the country, making sure that everybody gets to understand athletics by attending and cheering the athletes.
But there is a big challenge of the venue to host the event. In 2016 ahead of Rio Olympic games, the trials were held at the Kipchoge Keino stadium which was later closed for renovation.
Mutai said they already have a tartan track and what they need is a perimeter wall then they run.
“We all have stadium challenges but that will not stop us from hosting the championships. The government can take at least six months to construct the wall in readiness for the trials. Everyone is celebrating this move. We should not let them go elsewhere,” added Mutai.
Additional Information: The Star Newspaper