AK meet in Mombasa promises fireworks
Samuel Kibathi crosses the finish line to win the men's 5,000 metres race during the second Athletics Kenya Track and Field Meeting at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on February 24, 2023.
What you need to know:
- As fans, let us all turn out in our numbers and bring down the roof at Mbaraki while cheering our best athletes on, even at the risk of our voices becoming hoarse.
- Cheers to another sporty weekend.
Another week rolls by with the weekend in sight as we continue to build up to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August.
All hopefuls will bear witness that they are in the throes of a cut-throat fight for places to this prestigious, biennial championships.
Competing -- and winning, at the World Championships is a grand dream for any athlete hence the singular focus of every one of them towards this event.
This weekend offers them a chance to put themselves in a prime position to better their chances of earning a ticket and most importantly, assess what else they need to improve on when they go to training.
The fourth Athletics Kenya Track and Field Weekend Meeting at Mbaraki Sports Club in Mombasa guarantees an action-packed weekend that will see hundreds of athletes in contention.
The expectation is that the level of competition in Mombasa will be no different from the other legs of this weekend meeting in Kisumu, Nairobi and Thika.
This annual event has so far provided us with moments worthy of a highlight reel.
A case in point is Ferdinand Omanyala's season lead of 9.81 seconds at Nyayo Stadium as well as Samuel Imeta's first ever sub-10 in the men's 100m.
We have also seen athletes who have been out for a while such as 2017 World 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi, who excelled in Thika, around three weeks ago.
As an athletics enthusiast, my hope is that Mombasa will provide more memorable moments that will dominate conversations in the circles of the sport for weeks, if not years, to come.
Will unknown youngster Elias Ngeny emerge and shock the pre-race favourites?
Will we see another record fall at Mbaraki? Will we witness a former world beater rise out of the ashes and clinch a podium finish?
These are the moments that make for great newspaper headlines and we will be all there to witness it.
The fact that this event is a World Athletics ranking competition adds to the ingredients needed to spice up the entertainment.
It is therefore imperative for all competitors to bring their A-game because of the chance of improving your ranking in the world.
As fans, let us all turn out in our numbers and bring down the roof at Mbaraki while cheering our best athletes on, even at the risk of our voices becoming hoarse.
Cheers to another sporty weekend.
Korir is the chairman of Athletics Kenya’s Nairobi branch and Kip Keino Classic meet director. [email protected]
