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| Kenya Readies to Host Athletics Showpiece |
In 1979, the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) organised the first Africa Athletics Championships in Dakar, Senegal, where it is headquartered.Since then, the biennial event has grown to be the continent’s premier track and field competition showcasing the best talent in athletics. From July 28 to August 1, Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium will host the 17th edition of the event. This is the first time Kenya, a country that is peerless in the sport especially in mid and long distance running, will stage the championships.“It will be a remarkable occasion for all athletics lovers in the country and a fitting tribute to the runners who have made our country the proud host,” the chair of Nairobi 2010 Local Organising Committee, Mr Isaiah Kiplagat, said. The only big surprise is the fact that it took 28 years for Kenya to win the hosting rights for an event in which the East African nation has excelled since 1979. At this inaugural event, Kenya won six gold, nine silver and five bronze medals to finish third behind Nigeria and Algeria.“Hosting a track and field championship like this requires a lot of preparation since athletics, unlike say football, needs highly specialised equipment and facilities to be in place,” LOC chief executive David Okeyo explained.The long journey it took for Kenya to be granted the rights to host the event and some hurdles the country has faced in organising the championships have, however, not diminished the anticipated excitement.“Nairobi 2010 has the advantage of being Africa’s qualifying event for the IAAF Continental Cup in Split, Croatia, which means top athletes seeking places in our continent’s team will be here,” Okeyo enthused. The Continental Cup (formerly IAAF World Cup) is athletics equivalent of the quadrennial FIFA World Cup but unlike the Mundial that features individual nations, it pools continental teams competing against each other.The Continental Cup will run from September 4 to 5 and will feature four teams; Americas, Africa, Asia/Pacific (Asia and Oceania) and Europe. Nairobi 2010 will be the second high profile athletics event hosted in Kenya following the critically acclaimed 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in the coastal city of Mombasa.“We expect Nairobi 2010 to attract the numbers Mombasa World Cross brought to the venue. Fans travelled from far and we are asking Kenyans to do the same this time round so that we can have a memorable event,” Kiplagat said. Since inception in 1979, the African Athletics Championships have witnessed a medley of international stars including reigning and mostly future Olympics and World champions. Among winners in the inaugural edition were Ghanaian sprinter, Ernest Obeng who bagged the men’s 100m title in 10.54 seconds and went on to finish second in the 1981 World Cup behind Europe’s Allan Wells. Obeng is now in charge of television operations for IAAF, in Monaco. |
