Athletics Kenya will use the forthcoming weekend meetings as mini-trials for the World Relay Championships, Africa Senior Championships and the Tokyo Olympics, the national governing body has revealed.
AK have subsequently asked middle and long-distance runners interested in the said international events to avail themselves for the weekend meetings, set for March 12-13 and April 2-3 at the Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
"The meets will serve as a mini-trial for selection for athletes to be invited for the World Relays Championships trials scheduled for March 26-27," AK director of competitions, Paul Mutwii, said.
"Athletics Kenya is further appealing to middle and long-distance athletes to participate in this weekend’s event and the final meet on April 2-3 as the results will play a major role in selecting Team Kenya’s athletes to the Africa Senior Championships in Algiers, Algeria on June 1-5, 2021 and Tokyo Olympics on July 23-August 8."
This weekend's meet had been initially been set for Nyayo Stadium but has now been shifted to Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
"Due to the unavailability of Nyayo Stadium, the event will be held at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani. In addition, some members of the relay team are already camping at Kasarani for training and so it only makes sense to bring the event closer to them," he said.
These changes are the latest in a long line of adjustments the federation have been compelled to make as their need to adhere to Covid health regulations continue to impact the organisation of various sporting events in Kenya and beyond.
On Tuesday, AK announced that the remaining two track and field meetings will be staged in Nairobi rather than in Embu and Mumias as had been initially planned.
"The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have adversely affected the hosting of sports locally and internationally. The results of these effects being cancellation of programmed events or hosting them through strictly controlled circumstances in terms of following protocols put in place and the financial costs involved in the process," the federation said.
