New dates for World Under-20 Championships set
From left: Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Paul Wainaina, Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei and Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Mike Rabar, Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Officer (CEO) chat after inspecting facilities at Kenyatta University on January 24, 2020 in preparation for World Athletics Under-20 Championships.
What you need to know:
- A statement from World Athletics on Thursday indicated that under the competition’s rules, athletes aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on December 31, 2021 will be eligible to compete
- Rabar said the age limit bracket will bar some of the Kenyan juniors from taking part in the event next year hence Athletics Kenya will now focus in bringing in more new athletes
The Nairobi World Under-20 Championships in athletics will now be staged on August 17 to 22 next year, just a week after the completion of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The championships that were due to take place July 7 to 12 this year were postponed owing to Covid-19 pandemic.
A statement from World Athletics on Thursday indicated that under the competition’s rules, athletes aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on December 31, 2021 will be eligible to compete.
The 2020 World Under-20 chief executive officer Mike Rabar termed the announcement as good news saying that they will heighten the preparations to ensure that they deliver a successful event.
“We shall go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments to ensure that all is well,” said Rabar.
Rabar said the age limit bracket will bar some of the Kenyan juniors from taking part in the event next year hence Athletics Kenya will now focus in bringing in more new athletes.
The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships have been rescheduled for April 23-24, 2022 in Minsk, Belarus.
The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships due for Yangzhou in 2022 have also had a small date change, moving back one week, from March 20, 2022, to March 27, 2022.
This year's World Half Marathon Championships have been pushed from March to October 17 in Gdynia, Poland owing to Covid-19 pandemic.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe noted that the disruption caused by the global pandemic has made it more difficult to schedule international events over the next two years.
“But we want to give as much certainty as we can to our athletes, Member Federations, host cities and partners,” Coe said. “We have done our best to choose dates that we believe are achievable and offer the best chance for our athletes and event hosts to shine on the international stage.”
