AK spell out Amman selection criteria

The first four athletes across the line at the national championships on February 21 will gain automatic entry into Kenya’s team to next month’s World Cross Country Championships to be held in Amman, Athletics Kenya has announced.

The track and field association’s secretary, David Okeyo, also said the remaining two slots in the four six-member teams would be filled through a wild card selection system to be managed by a panel of AK selectors.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) recently announced that of the six athletes entered in each of the four races at the March 28 World Cross Country Championships in the Jordanian capital, only four will score.

The races on the cards are the senior men’s 12-kilometre, senior women’s 8km, junior men’s 8km and junior women’s 6km races.
By naming the national team of 24 immediately after the trials to be held at Nairobi’s Ngong racecourse, AK are seeking to avoid the controversy that surrounded the naming of reserve athletes to last year’s Beijing Olympic Games.

Okeyo also said in a statement that 14 runners from other nations will join the Kenyan athletes at the national championships that will also double up as an IAAF Permit Meeting.

Invitations have been extended to Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Morocco, Djibouti, Burundi, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eritrea and Algeria.

Many of the foreign stars are currently training at the IAAF’s High Performance Training Centre in Eldoret. Anti-doping tests will be done before and after the competition at the Ngong racecourse in line with international regulations.

The association also clarified that no individual entries will be accepted at the national championships, with the athletes expected to be entered by their respective provinces or institutions. The ages of the junior athletes will also be verified.

Disciplinary action

“The dates of birth of the junior athletes will be strictly vetted before any athlete is allowed to participate. If any affiliate is found to have violated this by entering over or under age runners, then severe disciplinary action will be taken against those concerned,” said Okeyo.

AK wants all its branches to submit their final entries for the championships before Monday. No late entries will be accepted. All institutions - Police, Prisons, Administration Police and the Armed Forces - have held their respective national competitions while the 11 Athletics Kenya branches are due to stage their events this weekend.

Cash awards will be on offer at the national championships from a purse of Sh560,000 that will see the top three finishers earn Sh50,000, Sh30,000 and Sh20,000. The cash prizes run 10 deep with the finishers pocketing Sh1,000.

Team leaders wishing to tour the course should seek clearance from AK’s technical director, Dan Muchoki. All athletes will be accommodated at Nairobi’s YMCA hostels.

“All the team leaders should ensure that the athletes selected to represent their respective provinces and institutions have the valid documents for issuance of visas should they be selected to the national team for Amman,” Okeyo said.

Kenya failed to win individual titles at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh.