Sprinters to remain in 'bubble' camp despite trials postponement
Mark Otieno eases to win his 100m heat during the second Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meeting at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani on March 12, 2021.
What you need to know:
- A national team of 42 athletes was picked during the National Cross Country Championships on February 13 at the Ngong Racecourse for the Africa Cross Country that was planned for March 6 to 7 in Lome, Togo.
- The team proceeded for residential training in Kigari, Embu, but the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) cancelled the event after the hosting nation proved not ready to implement Covid-19 protocols.
Sprinters who are at the Tokyo Olympic “bubble” camp at Kasarani will not break following the postponement of the national trials for World Relay Championships that were slated for Saturday.
Athletics Kenya (AK) director of competitions, Paul Mutwii, disclosed Wednesday that the trials have just been deferred and not cancelled and called on athletes to step up their preparations.
Mutwii disclosed on Tuesday that they had postponed the trials to a later date to enable them explore ways of handling the Covid-19 protocols following the third wave of infections.
“We want to consult with our experts in the coming days to see how we shall handle the protocols with a view of not exposing our athletes, officials and everyone to Covid-19.
“We must come up with better ways keeping in mind that the third wave seems lethal. It’s important that we give it time,” explained Mutwii, adding that they will in the next 10 days decide on the new date for the trials.
AK was due to pick a team for the World Relay Championships slated for May 1-2 in Silesia, Poland.
A total of 32 sprinters and field events athletes have for the last three weeks been part of Team Kenya training at a “bubble” camp at Kasarani ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
A total of 1130 people tested positive for Covid-19 within 24 hours on Tuesday bringing to 122,040 cases that have been confirmed from 1,419,984 tests.
Out of these, 90,397 have recovered but 12 had died within 24 hours bringing the total fatalities to 2,023.
AK has hosted several events this year including all the events in its national cross country calendar, three relay weekend meetings and two track and field weekend meetings.
A national team of 42 athletes was picked during the National Cross Country Championships on February 13 at the Ngong Racecourse for the Africa Cross Country that was planned for March 6 to 7 in Lome, Togo.
The team proceeded for residential training in Kigari, Embu, but the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) cancelled the event after the hosting nation proved not ready to implement Covid-19 protocols.
The athletics and taekwondo teams were joined in ‘bubble’ training by the sevens rugby teams- Kenya Shujaa and Kenya Lionesses- and the national volleyball team, Malkia Strikers.
Shujaa joined the camp on March 15, while Lionesses and Malkia on Monday, though the rugby team was putting up at Kenyatta University.
The sevens rugby teams leave Thursday for the Dubai Invitational tournaments due April 2 to 3 and April 9 to 10 at the Sevens Stadium, Dubai.
The competition has attracted Argentina, Chile, Canada, France, Uganda, Spain and Japan.The Lionesses' event has drawn Brazil, Canada, USA, France and Japan.
