Athletics Kenya track season starts this week in Nakuru

After last weekend’s IAAF World Indoor Championships in Poland, athletics focus now moves outdoors as Kenya’s build-up to the Commonwealth Games’ track and field competition launches in earnest this Friday with the opening leg of the Athletics Kenya weekend meeting series in Nakuru.

This season-opener, the first of five, two-day weekend meetings backed by the National Bank, will be held at the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (RVIST) on Friday and Saturday.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES TRIALS
The track and field competition will culminate in the national championships, that will double up as trials for the Commonwealth Games, at the Nyayo National Stadium from June 5 to 7.

Other weekend meetings will be held in Bondo (March 28-29), Kisii (April 11-12), Mumias (May 2-3) and Nairobi (May 9-10).

The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 3.

Athletics Kenya vice-president in charge of competitions, David Okeyo, yesterday urged all affiliates to show up in Nakuru on Friday so as to start early preparations for a busy track season that will also feature the IAAF World Relays Championship in Nassau, Bahamas on May 24 and 25.

The selection of Kenya’s team to the inaugural Bahamas championship is being conducted separately through the Safaricom-sponsored national relays series that enter their fourth leg at Kasarani on March 22.

“We have a busy season ahead of us that’s why we would like all our affiliates to hit the ground running by sending competitive teams to the opening round of the weekend meetings in Nakuru this Friday,” Okeyo said.

AK’s revised calendar also has trials for the Africa Youth Championships slotted for April 2 and 3 at the Nyayo National Stadium to pick Kenya’s team to the second African Youth Games to be held in Gaborone, Botswana, from May 22 to 31.

The Gaborone competition is also a qualifying meet for the second Youth Olympic Games to be held in Nanjing, China, from August 16 to 28.