300 compete for chance to represent Kenya in Tokyo
Kiprono Ericson
About 300 athletes have been invited for the Olympics trials to be held on June 17-19 at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei revealed that preparations for the three-day event, which run from Thursday to Saturday, are complete.
Tuwei said AK will use the three-day event to pick its team for the Olympic Games set for July 23 - August 8 in Tokyo, Japan.
He said they are expecting a very exciting competition that will culminate in the naming of Kenya’s team for Tokyo Games on Saturday.
“We received requests from Uganda and South Sudan who want to send their athletes to compete during the trials and we have accepted,” said Tuwei.
At the same time, the AK chief said the event will be used to test the country’s preparedness to host the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in August 17-22 in the same venue.
The federation has already revealed the entries for the invite-only trials where the first two athletes to cross the finish line will earn automatic slots in the team while the third athlete will be selected through merit by the panel of selectors led by head coach Julius Kirwa.
Similarly, for the athletes to wear Kenyan colours at the Summer Games they must have already attained the Olympic qualifying standards and met the anti-doping requirements set by the World Athletics.
The women’s 5,000m final is set to kick off the event on Thursday morning.
