The Local Organizing Committee CEO, Mwangi Muthee (center) when giving an update of the 2017 IAAF World U-17 Championships preparations in Nairobi on September 20. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 20 – A High Performance Training Center will be set up at Kenyatta University by the IAAF, an initiative that Kenya will benefit from hosting the 2017 World Athletics Under-18 championships.
The 2017 IAAF World U-18 Local Organising Committee (LOC) CEO, Mwangi Muthee said the center will be a legacy programme that will assist the youth development of Athletics Kenya and the East African region.
Kenyatta University will be the athlete’s village for the games and Muthee announced that a sample will be out soon before Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta officially launches it on behalf of the LOC.
“Kenyatta University are really ripping from this competition because the IAAF is going to set up a legacy High Performance Training Center in the institution that will not only benefit Kenya but also kids from all over the world who will have the opportunity to come and train here,” Muthee said on Tuesday.
The CEO announced that preparations for the event to run July 11-16 next year at the Safaricom Stadium Kasarani are in top gear, expressing believe that Kenya will host a successful championship where over 150 nations are expected to compete.
Athletics Kenya president Lt. Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei (center) with 2017 IAAF World U-17 LOC CEO Mwangi Muthee (left). PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
With nine months left ahead of the biannual competition, the LOC is racing against time to have everything ready, making sure a standard competition and warm up tartan track is in place as well as the equipment.
Muthee confirmed the work has already started after being given the nod by the visit of investigators from IAAF two months ago, saying the Ministry of Lands and Public Works have provided engineers who will ensure a standard tartan track is laid down.
Also to be considered is the pitch where the CEO said both the competition and warm up field will be up to international standards in preparation for the hosting of the 2018 Africa Nation Championship (CHAN).
“The preparation for the championship is an expensive affair; The Kasarani Stadium has a lot of work to be done but as we speak, we are being backed by the engineers from the ministry of Housing and Lands to make sure we prepare the venue in the right perspective as required by the IAAF,” Muthee asserted.
“We want to have a high standard tartan track and we want to do it right. We want to make sure that whatever we do is to the best of our capability, IAAF have recommended a few consultancies who are working with the LOC to make sure that the work we do is up to the expectations of everybody.”
IAAF will also conduct an international seminar of coaches all over the world that will run concurrently with the event.
“We are mapping all the hotels that are within vicinity and the LOC has already started receiving enquiries from visitors across the globe wanting to know where to stay when they come for the event.
