Will team Kenya to Tokyo Worlds overcome track facilities nightmare?

Before their return to Nairobi after the African Nations Championship (Chan), which will come to a close on August 30 at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani, Team Kenya to the Tokyo World Championships in September will have to do their speed work outside the capital.

Soon after the national trials for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (September 13–21), an exercise staged at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi late last month, Eldoret was named as the probable training destination for the team.

The decision, as explained by Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei, was taken after stadiums in and adjacent to Nairobi were reserved for Chan competitions and training.

That meant that until the curtains close on the football bonanza, Kenya’s squad to Tokyo will return to the capital.

Moi Sports Centre Kasarani has historically been a favourite pre-departure camp for Team Kenya to international championships.

However, the high-altitude training experience in Eldoret, observers say, will be ideal for the team’s preparations, but athletics stars getting ready for a high-stakes contest in Tokyo and their technical teams are confronting the reality of poor facilities outside the capital, Nairobi.

Last year, part of the team to the Paris Olympics sharpened their tactics at the serene Kip Keino High Performance as they drank from legend Kipchoge Keino’s pot of wisdom and revelled in fresh food.

Among the stars that trained at Kip Keino High Performance Training Centre in preparation for the last Olympic Games and also in the team to Tokyo are world silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi, double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet and Olympic bronze medallist Faith Cherotich.

Athletes such as Wanyonyi, who will be flying Kenyan colours in the 800m race in Tokyo, and 10km world record holder Agnes Ngetich have been spotted recently working on their endurance and speed in Kapsabet and Iten respectively – towns neighbouring Eldoret City.

Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi said a number of track facilities around Eldoret will be utilised in the preparation for Tokyo25.

Kipchoge Keino Stadium is a construction site, but the ministry assured the athletics fraternity that track facilities at the University of Eldoret and Moi University will be crucial in the training. Most of them, however, have dirt tracks, which experts say might pose challenges when it rains.

Apart from Kasarani, facilities such as Nyayo National Stadium and Ulinzi Sports Complex have been ideal for sprints and field events training.

Kasarani’s track is yet to be installed after the stadium was refurbished for Chan, but the city still boasts of Nyayo and Ulinzi.

The squad to Tokyo will spend a few days in Nairobi, after August 30, before departure to Japan.

According to Mwangi, all support systems for a proper training ahead of the September global show are in place.

“Kipchoge Keino Stadium is still under construction. There are also track facilities at the University of Eldoret and the Moi University School of Law. These facilities will be expanded so that we get more space for training from next year,” Mwangi said last month.

The PS went on to say: “Tokyo, here we come, and expect us to win more medals than we did during the last World Championships.”

To avert struggles with track facilities outside Nairobi in future, Mwangi said: “President William Ruto is doing all he can to guarantee improved sports infrastructure.”

Chairman of the Sports Committee in the National Assembly, Dan Wanyama, said the house will approve financial requests aimed at enabling Team Kenya to prepare well and compete in Tokyo.

“For those who did not qualify, there are more championships to come. Tomorrow, it will be you who will be raising the flag,” he said, adding that his committee will be on the forefront in supporting the welfare of sportsmen and women.