Top athletes head to Gusii for third leg of AK annual series
PHOTO | FILE Double world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop (centre) competes in men’s 12km race at the Athletics Kenya/KCB Cross country meeting at Eldoret Polytechnic on Sunday.
What you need to know:
- Top athletes are expected to turn up at the Gusii Stadium for the meet as the season slowly picks up.
- High jump, pole vault and steeplechase events have been shelved due to lack of facilities at the Gusii Stadium.
With Athletics Kenya yet to get a title sponsor for its annual track and field series, the third AK weekend meeting in Kisii on Friday will heavily rely on goodwill from the county government.
Top athletes are expected to turn up at the Gusii Stadium for the meet as the season slowly picks up.
Athletics Kenya’s Kisii branch chairman Evans Bosire on Thursday thanked Kisii Governor James Ongwae and his county for backing the two-day meeting, the third in the AK series after last month’s legs in Nakuru and Bondo.
There will be more at stake this weekend especially for sprinters and middle distance athletes who will use the meeting to warm up for the April 26 Safaricom Relays Series finale in Nairobi.
The finals will also act as Kenya’s trials for next month’s inaugural IAAF World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.
There will be two more meets in Mumias (May 2 and 3) and Nairobi (May 9 and 10) before the National Championships from June 5 to 7 which will double up as Kenya’s trials for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“We expect top stars such as former World 800 metres champion Janeth Jepkosgei and 2008 Olympic 1,500 metres gold medallist Nancy Jebet Lagat.
World 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop is also on the start list for his speciality at the meeting that starts with the heats from 9am Friday.
However, high jump, pole vault and steeplechase events have been shelved due to lack of facilities at the Gusii Stadium.
