NAIROBI, Kenya, June 29 – Athletics Kenya (AK) chairman Isaiah Kiplagat is confident Kenya can replicate its middle and long distance successes in the sprints.
Kiplagat said on Monday that junior athletes perform brilliantly in the short races but the lure of handsome rewards in the extended events means that this burgeoning talent gets lost.
“In the youth and junior categories, our athletes do very well in the sprints. But when they come of age and join the senior ranks, the lucrative market in the world attracts a lot of them that’s why they disappear,” said Kiplagat.
“This is an area where we want to guide them so that we do not lose them when they mature,” he added.
Kiplagat also said that field events is also a primary area which AK want to develop.
“We are going to buy equipment which we are going to distribute to schools and colleges to ensure that we have many field athletes in this country,” said the AK chairman.
Kiplagat was receiving after receiving Sh16 million sponsorship package from National Bank of Kenya (NBK) for AK’s youth athletic programme.
“We are extending this gesture to AK because we understand that athletics is the biggest sport in Kenya and we want play a part in helping the youth develop in this field,” said NBK managing director Reuben Marambii.
Earlier this year, the bank sponsored the Eastern Branch of AK during their trials in Meru and later in Nairobi during the championships.
