Kasarani to host Olympics Trials

The Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani, and not the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret, will host the Olympics Trials, Athletics Kenya has announced.

Initially the event was prime to take place in Eldoret but on Tuesday the athletics management body said that the venue change had been necessitated by the need to test the systems and equipment at the stadium in readiness for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships, which Kenya will host from August 17-22 at the same venue.

The Olympics Trials are set for June 17-19.

“Earlier, the trials had been set for the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret but after much deliberations and analysis of the current state of events, Moi Stadium seems an appropriate venue for the championships. 

Preparations for the Under-20 championships are ongoing and technical experts have advised that holding the trials at Kasarani will help assess the preparedness ahead of the arrival of World Athletics inspectors in July.”  

“Athletics Kenya would like to apologise to any stakeholder for any inconvenience by this change and ask the requisite athletes to make prior arrangements to attend the event. 

The trials, AK said,  remain an invite-only event for the athletes who have thus far attained the qualifying mark for the Olympics in their respective races and fully met the anti-doping requirements. 

In the meantime, Athletics Kenya has urged athletes who are targeting qualification through international competitions to liaise with them to avoid competing in unsanctioned races.