Tough test ahead for Kenya’s bid

PHOTO | AFP President Uhuru Kenyatta is received by the International Association of Athletics Federations(IAAF) President Lamine Diack on arrival at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow for the 5000m women race last year.

What you need to know:

  • Buenos Aires will also to present strong proposal as test event for 2018 Youth Olympics
  • The Argentine capital and Greensboro City in USA are challenging Nairobi for the rights for the championship which is held once every two years for athletes aged 17 and below. Next year’s championship will be held in Cali, Colombia.

NASSAU, Bahamas

Athletics Kenya and the Nairobi County Government will have to do more to convince world athletics authorities to hand Nairobi the rights to host the 2017 IAAF World Youth Championships with Buenos Aires expected to present a strong bid.

The Argentine capital and Greensboro City in USA are challenging Nairobi for the rights for the championship which is held once every two years for athletes aged 17 and below. Next year’s championship will be held in Cali, Colombia.

“Buenos Aires have indicated that they would like to host the 2017 championship as a test event for the 2018 Youth Olympics that they will host,” Essar Gabriel, IAAF Secretary General, said.

Gabriel told a meeting of the IAAF Press Commission after the conclusion of the inaugural World Relays Championships in Bahamas that bid documents by the three cities should reach IAAF headquarters by September 25.

The IAAF Council will announce the hosts at its November Council meeting in Monaco where the venue for the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships will also be announced.

Kampala and Bahraini capital Manama are the only two cities bidding for the cross-country championship hosted by Kenya in 2007. Next year’s World Cross Country Championships will be held in Guiyang, China, on March 28.

FIRST LADY'S SUPPORT

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, an athletics convert with one marathon and a half marathon in her bag already, recently accepted a request by Athletics Kenya that she becomes patron of Nairobi’s bid, with Governor Evans Kidero also assuring AK of his county’s support for the championship.

AK are expected to soon announce the composition of the bidding team which would morph into the Local Organising Committee should Nairobi win the bid. The team will be comprised of top corporate executives and professionals in various fields including media, marketing and security.

AK officials Isaiah Kiplagat (president), David Okeyo (vice president) and Isaac Mwangi (CEO) were in the Bahamas for the world relays and to also lobby for Nairobi’s bid. Addressing the Press Commission meeting on Monday evening, meanwhile, IAAF president Lamine Diack and Vice President Sebastian Coe both said they were more than impressed by the way the inaugural world relays went.

“I’m proud of my decision to bring these championships to the Bahamas. When I was giving the American athletes their medals after one of their victories, they kept on telling me to do it again every year,” Diack said.

Track legend Coe, a former 800m world record holder and chairman of the organising committee for the 2012 London Olympics, said the Bahamas hosts were more than impressive.

“This was a trail-blazing event. There was a roar in the stadium that I only witnessed before when Mo Farah ran the final laps at the London Olympics to win the gold,” said Coe who is the chairman of the IAAF’s Press Commission.