Limo dispels fears Rio Trials will overwhelm Eldoret

Helsinki 2005 world champion in 5000m; Benjamin Limo, has dispelled fears Eldoret will be overwhelmed by hosting the 2016 Rio Olympics Trials and the subsequent training camps for the selected national team for the Summer Games in Brazil.

The retired champion who is in the organising committee for the selection event noted it was a privilege for the town that styles itself as the capital of champions to host the event as Kipchoge Keino Stadium prepares to stage its first major event.

“Nairobi has been used for long in hosting such kind of competitions so this will be the opportunity for the people from within the Eldoret region to come and witness the mini-Olympics.

“We will have the international athletes like David Rudisha, Asbel Kiprop among others competing. Eldoret is more famous in athletics,” Limo told Citizen Digital.

“Statistics show at least 60 percent of athletes who have won medals in Olympics, World Championships and other major races stay in Eldoret,” the former Athletes’ Commission Member at world governing body; IAAF and Athletics Kenya (AK) Uasin Gishu chairman added.

Limo said it will be a good opportunity for upcoming runners from the talent-rich region to learn from the event having been denied an opportunity of witnessing such high quality competition in the past.

“Junior athletes will get a chance to witness the famous athletes and champions and they will be inspired to work hard in their careers to prosper,” he underscored.

There are concerns the town which is the headquarters of Uasin Gishu County will be stretched by the huge influx of visitors from within and outside the region, including those coming from overseas for the June 14 and 15 Trials.

“In case there are those in doubt Eldoret will host the Trials, all equipment needed for completion, including for field events like Javelin are available.

“Concerning bedding; Eldoret has grown for the last 10 years to get the best hotels, from five star rating and below to cater for everyone,” the former World Cross short-course champion declared.

“I think Nairobi has got bigger traffic jams than Eldoret. Kip Keino Stadium is isolated and there is the Mandago Road constructed by our Governor that can be used to bypass the busy town centre to access the stadium,” he explained.

“There is a Local Organising Committee I’m involved in and we will ensure everything will go on as planned,” Limo asserted.

He also thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta for signing the Anti-Doping Bill into law last week.

“As the former athletes; we were scared that Kenya may have been banned had we missed the May deadline and Parliamentarians worked hard to pass it through the National Assembly since they were in recess.

“There is rich talent in our sports be it rugby, Harambee Starlets or athletics so we have a lot of potential at the Olympics. What we want as former athletes is for the law to be implemented. If anyone is found guilty for taking drugs then the law should follow its course.”