Monaco team lands to assess progress of U20 preps

Preparations for July’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships are expected to shift a gear higher this week with the arrival of a high-powered delegation from the world athletics governing body’s Monaco headquarters.

The 19 World Athletics (WA) officials landed in Nairobi yesterday for a two-day site visit to assess Nairobi’s preparations for the July 7 to 12 championship.

“The officials, drawn from various departments at the World Athletics and their partners, are expected to inspect the progress made so far by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in preparing for the championship,” a statement from the championship’s LOC issued Tuesday evening said.

“This will be World Athletics’ third visit for inspection having visited twice last year.”

DAY-LONG MEETINGS

The statement added that Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei, who also chairs the LOC, said the officials will have day-long meetings today and tomorrow with the various departments within the organising committee.

“They are expected to be engaged with various departments for the entire day on Wednesday and Thursday before flying back.”

Myke Rabar, the chief executive of the championships, said the visit is key in launching the final phase of preparations.

“This visit is extremely important for Kenya and will effectively kick off the final leg of our preparations to host yet another successful global competition,” Rabar said in the statement.

The championship’s organising committee has its work cut out with concerns over delays in putting up a training track at the Kenyatta University, which will serve as the Athletes’ Village, and the slow progress of renovation works at the Moi International Sports Centre, which will be the main competition venue.

Visiting World Athletics Delegation:

Matt Hartfree (Event Presentation Team);

Zacharias Vailakis (Press Operations Manager);

Olaf Brockmann (Press Delegate);

Gemma Castano (Technical Delegate);

Florian Weber (Event Presentation Manager);

Luca Sperotti (Technical Suppliers, Deltatre);

Jan Zmek (Dentsu Athletics);

Luis Saladie (Head of Competitions Management);

Jeff Chelpi (Event Operations Coordinator);

Fanny Boquillet (Head of Planning and Strategy);

Lavinia Maffia (Partnerships Manager);

Imre Matrahazi (Technical Delegate);

James Lord (Director of Broadcasting);

Fred Sanchez (Broadcasting Manager);

Maria Ramos (Brand and Marketing);

Gareth Raw (Systems and Cybersecurity Manager);

Phil James (Technical Suppliers, Seiko);

Mark Fulton (World Athletics Production, Live Sports Producer/Director);

Sue Hellewell (World Athletics Productions, Head of Production)