Athletes to battle strong winds in AK track and field meeting

Athletics officials inspect equipment at University of Eldoret grounds on February 21, 2020. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |

What you need to know:

  • Mutai also took issue with the government’s failure to invest in sports facilities, saying subjecting athletes to a lot of suffering.

Athletes competing in this weekend’s sprint and field events in the opening leg of Athletics Kenya track and field meeting at the University of Eldoret grounds will have to contend with strong winds.

Athletics Kenya Central Rift Region chairman, Abraham Mutai on Friday said that most coaches and managers were worried about the weather but insisted that the two-day event will go on as planned.

“University of Eldoret (UoE) has a good ground for this particular event but most of us are worried about the strong winds being experienced in the area because there will be a lot of resistance against the athletes. However, we don’t have an option other than to go ahead with the event,” said Mutai.

While addressing the press at the university grounds after he and other top AK officials inspected the venue ahead of the two–day event, Mutai said everything is in place for the weekend meeting.

“We opted to come to UoE because Kipchoge Stadium is not yet ready and we could not postpone the event because athletes want to start preparing for the Olympics. We also decided to come to UoE because this is where they have been training all the time,” explained Mutai.

Mutai expects top names to attend the event starting Saturday. “We expect top athletes like Mercy Cherono and Eunice Sum here to start the season. All the top male athletes, especially the sprinters, will also be here. Those competing in the long races have just concluded the cross country season but universities are our affiliates and we are looking forward to having their teams here,” he added.

Mutai also took issue with the government’s failure to invest in sports facilities, saying subjecting athletes to a lot of suffering.

“As a region, we are not happy. We are hugely disappointed. We need a stadium in Eldoret so that when we host events, we organise them at the required standard form,” Mutai explained.