Let’s build on success of the under-18 event

A view of the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani on Day 5 of the World Under 18 Championships on July 16, 2017 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Athletics Kenya (AK) must go back on the drawing board and find ways of keeping people in the stadium during local events.

Over 55,000 fans at the Moi International Sports Centre Complex, Kasarani, on the final day of the just concluded World Athletics Championships. Wow! That was something I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams.

This did not only take me by surprise, but it stunned even the organisers themselves as they had anticipated a crowd in the range of 20,000.

Officials of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) also admitted that this was the first time in the history of the event such a crowd had turned up. Forget our results and the general organization of the event, the crowd was the in-thing in as far as the success of the youth show was concerned.

Going forward, we must find a way of keeping the same crowd glued to athletics activities in the country. We must find a way of making athletics our number one sport simply because we are performing. Kenya is all about athletics and as much as there is no doubt about that, football still attract the masses.

The just concluded youth event has shown that athletics can as well attract huge crowds as witnessed last weekend. However, this doesn’t just come by fluke. We have to be very organized and do things that will link athletics with the masses.

Having said that, Athletics Kenya (AK) must go back on the drawing board and find ways of keeping people in the stadium during local events.

This is an opportunity that we can not let slip through the fingers because future events will depend on how we handle the local activities. We must go out there and tell people why they must attend athletics activities. If the 60,000-seater stadium at Kasarani was filled yet these were just youth runners, what can happen with the elite category?

We, as the athletics fraternity, must come together, seize the opportunity and transform Kenya into an athletics country. With the World Championships in London only two weeks away, we must keep the fire burning and keep Kenyans glued on their TV sets throughout the 10-day event.

However, this will only happen if we are able to post good results in London.

I know we have a formidable team but what counts at the end of the day is how we handle things and psyche our stars.

We must always remember that we are not the only country and we are going for competition. Rhetoric of how we are going to bring down the likes of Briton Mo Farah and the likes has to come to an end and transform our energies on the field. Remember the gains we have made on track during the youth event can be lost in minutes if we don’t deliver.