Nairobi bids for 2025 World Athletics Championships
IN MONTE CARLO, MONACO
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed is confident Nairobi will be ready to successfully host next year’s World Under-20 Championships in track and field at Kasarani.
In fact, the CS adds that Nairobi has gone one further and put in a bid to organise the big one – the World Athletics Championships – in 2025.
With the senior global championships now being held on a rotational basis around the continents, naturally, Africa’s turn to host the spectacle falls in 2025 with Nigeria also having shown interest in putting in a bid, although it’s still unclear which city in Africa’s most populous nation is eyeing it.
Riding on the back of a successful World Under-18 Championships at Kasarani in 2017, Nairobi easily won the rights to host the next tier, the Under-20s, from July 7 to 12 next year.
But the slow take-off of preparations has been a concern, with issues such as delays in laying the synthetic training track at Kenyatta University (where the athletes will reside), the absence of a physical championship secretariat and the run-down state of the Moi International Sports Centre event venue evidently throwing a spanner in the works.
However, a confident Amina on Friday evening moved to allay these fears, telling journalists on the sidelines of the World Athletics Awards here that all is well, and Nairobi is on course.
Accompanied by her Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia, Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei and members of the Nairobi 2020 local organising committee, led by chief executive Myke Rabar, Amina said funds needed for the championships have been released by Treasury and assured the deadlines will be met.
About Sh1.4 billion has been earmarked for the six-day championships.
For good measure, Amina and Kaberia were joined by World Athletics (formerly IAAF) President Seb Coe in launching the championships’ website: www.worldathleticsu20.com/nairobi2020.
“From now until then (July 2020) it will be quite busy. The successful hosting of the World Under-18 Championships and other events shows what we are capable of,” Amina said.
“Our plan now is to bid for the 2025 World Championships and a letter of intent has gone out to World Athletics and we look forward to a favourable response.
“Kenya is ready to host, not just athletics, but a big party.”
The minister noted that funds for the championship have been released and expressed her confidence in the event’s steering committee and local organising committee, led by Rabar.
Among the party here is also the media director for the championships, Mike Okinyi, and his deputy Chris Mbaisi alongside Regina Gachora who heads the event secretariat.
The team held a meeting yesterday with World Athletics Press Delegate for the championships, Olaf Brockmann, alongside other officials from the world athletics governing body whose headquarters are here in the Principality of Monaco.
Kenya’s rallying call was amplified by women’s world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei who addressed journalists alongside Kaberia and Rabar, drumming up support for the junior championship.
“We are here to look at the progress and we shall go back home and roll out the remaining events to deliver a successful championship in Nairobi next July,” Tuwei noted.
“This (being in Monaco) is an opportunity to meet with the policy makers and technical people to make sure we are in tandem,” Kaberia said.
“It is an opportunity to make sure Kenya is ready and Nairobi is ready.”
Meanwhile, registration of volunteers for the Nairobi championship will open on January 1.
According to the event’s website, the volunteers will be absorbed in various departments, including media, protocol, transport, logistics, accommodation, hospitality, medical, ICT, ticketing and technical.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Post a Comment