Participants from over 20 countries arrive in Nairobi for Schools X-Country

Preparations for the World Schools Cross Country are moving at a supersonic speed with 419 participants from 22 countries already registered for the one-day event.

The countries that have thus far sent their representatives include hosts Kenya, Chile, Uganda, Qatar, China, England, Ireland, Morocco, Tanzania, Rwanda, AEFE Kenya, Namibia, Mexico, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Nigeria, Croatia, Turkey, Luxembourg and Uganda.

Delegations from these countries have started arriving in the country with Chile expected to have docked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) last  night.

Their arrival was preceded by that of the International Schools Federation (ISF) president Laurent Petrynka, who spearhead’s the global governing body for school sports.

The Frenchman is part of a high-powered delegation that will be spectating Saturday’s competition, which will be held on African soil for the second time since 2000 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Countries expected to arrive tomorrow (Thursday) include Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Italy and England.

Medals will be up for grabs across three categories of competition including Under 12, Under 15 and Under 18 (boys and girls).

Hosts Kenya boast the largest contingent of athletes (60), followed by East African neighbours Tanzania who have 29 athletes.

Meanwhile, Team Kenya that has been camping at the Watakatifu Senta in Ngong, Kajiado County is confident that they will perform well on Saturday at the International Secondary Schools Federation Cross Country Championships that is slated for May 10-14 at the Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi.

Athletes according to the Team Manager Koech Kirwa are in high spirits and they are on the home stretch ahead of the competition on Saturday where they will be competing against other countries.

Koech said that despite rains that has been hindering their preparations, coaches in charge of the various categories have lined up a good programme that ensures the athletes meet their expectation in terms of training.

“We have the best team that came into the camp and for the last two weeks we have been training and the athletes have promised to deliver good results when they line up for competition on Saturday,” he added.

Robert Ng’isirei the head coach on his part believes that Kenya will be able to win the overall title given that athletes will be competing on home soil after good preparations.

“We have prepared well for the upcoming event and we have some of the best athletes who we are sure will make the country proud and the camp has been of great help because we managed to give tips to athletes on how to compete in an international event,” said Ng’isirei.

Fanuel Koech, the team captain who will be competing in the Under-18 category on his part, said that the residential training has improved his performance and that of his team mates ahead of the competition.

“Training has been good and this week we are finalizing preparations and we know it won’t be easy but we shall do our best because we are running at home. It is so sweet when you are being cheered by the fans at home and we just have to do well,” said Koech.