Let's turn up and support our junior athletes at Nyayo
What you need to know:
- The national trials for last year’s World Under-20 Championships was cutthroat even without the presence of fans in the stadium.
- Now that fans have been allowed into the stadia, a capacity crowd is exactly what every junior athlete needs as fuel to fire himself or herself to victory.
First off, hats off to every fan who took time out of their busy schedule to come spectate at last weekend’s trials for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Special gratitude to First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for joining other Kenyans in cheering on our athletes from Friday to Saturday – and even sharing a word of advice with the final team that was selected.
We thank CS for Sports Ambassador Dr. Amina Mohammed the immense support she has given all the events that has been staged to date.
Likewise, the trials would not be a success had it not been for the approximately 178 athletes who were all hungry for glory and gave their all in search for a ticket to Oregon and Birmingham.
That not all of you made the final team is not an indictment of your abilities, but a testament that Kenya is a hotbed of talent.
I am looking forward to seeing many of those who missed out coming back with a bang in subsequent competitions.
This weekend, another battle beckons at Nyayo Stadium as hundreds of junior athletes from different regions fight for a ticket on the plane to Cali, Colombia for next month’s World Under 20 Championship.
These juniors have for the past year been going through rigorous preparations to sharpen them ahead of this battle.
During the long school holidays in April this year, most of them were domiciled across 26 regions across the country where they were put through their paces by established coaches in various track and field events.
Additionally, there was a group of 11 sprinters who benefited from a month-long training camp in Miramas, France, training using some of the modern facilities in the world.
As a fan, therefore, you can be guaranteed that Nyayo will be a scene of fireworks as every athlete fights tooth and nail to make the final team.
As Athletics Kenya, this is the minimum we expect because we are determined to come up with a strong team capable of defending our World Under 20 title for the third time.
It is no easy feat considering many other countries are encircling us, ready to dethrone us as World Under-20 kings and queens.
The national trials for last year’s World Under 20 Championship was cutthroat even without the presence of fans in the stadium.
Now that fans have been allowed into the stadia, a capacity crowd is exactly what every junior athlete needs as fuel to fire himself or herself to victory.
Many of them are just starting out and may have never ran or competed in front of huge crowds.
Let’s make their dreams come true by coming in our numbers, cheering them on and patting them on the back even when things don’t go their way.
To all the junior athletes who will be in Nairobi, I wish you all the best and may your hard work in training reap rich rewards.