Athletics Kenya officials flag off U-18 caravan in Iten
From left: Students from Australia Curtis Young from, Joe Fahrmann, Jesse Rutherford, Harry French, Oliver Todd, Ben Gibson, Kobi Rutherford and Matt Vertullo pose for a photo on June 4, 2017 in Iten during the flagging off of World Under-18 Championships caravan by Elgeyo-Marakwet County Governor Alex Tolgos at St Patrick’s Boys High School Iten. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |
What you need to know:
- Six students from Elgeyo-Marakwet County are set to compete in the World Under-18 Championships in Athletics that starts next Wednesday in Nairobi and ends on July 16.
- The championship, which will be held in Kenya for the first time, has been scrapped off by IAAF.
The World Under-18 Championships caravan was Tuesday flagged off in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County, as the team kicked off nationwide tour ahead of the start of the global track and field championship.
Tuesday’s flagging off of the championship caravan at St Patrick’s Iten Secondary School was officiated by Elgeyo-Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos and the Athletics Kenya officials from the county.
Six students from Elgeyo-Marakwet County are set to compete in the World Under-18 Championships in Athletics that starts next Wednesday in Nairobi and ends on July 16. The championship, which will be held in Kenya for the first time, has been scrapped off by IAAF.
The six students include two each from from Kapsait Secondary School and Moi Girls Kapcherop in Marakwet West sub-county, one student from Kimwogo Secondary in Keiyo South and another rom St Patrick’s Iten in Keiyo North.
Speaking at the St Patricks Iten, Joseph Lagat, the official in charge of marketing in World Under-18 Championships Local Organising Committee, said the choice of Iten as the location for flagging off the caravan was informed by the fact that it has produced world-beating athletes.
The agency offered St Patrick’s School 50 free tickets to enable both students and the school principal, Wilson Yego, to attend the championship at Kasarani Stadium.
Ordinary tickets for the championship are retailing at Sh200 and Sh500 while premier tickets go for Sh1,000, said Mr Lagat, who is former MP for Eldoret East Constituency and an alumnus of St Patrick’s Iten.
From Iten, the caravan headed to Uasin Gishu and Nandi. It will also visit Kisii, Nyamira, Homabay, Kericho, Bomet, Nakuru, Nyeri and Laikipia before heading to Nairobi, Lagat said.
“Our main objective in these roadshows is to sell tickets and popularise the event across the country because we want to have the stadium filled to capacity,” said Lagat. He urged athletics fans to turn out in large numbers to cheer their teams to victory in the championship.
“A total of 120 countries will be participating in the event and the countries have started arriving Nairobi, including Oman and Poland,” he said.
