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With the date for World Athletics Championships set for Budapest, Hungary approaching fast, athletes and coaches are racing against time to meet conditions set by the world body.

Among the prerequisites that the athletes intending to compete at the Championships have to meet is attaining the qualifying time.

The athletes have also to have undergone the mandatory four anti-doping tests – one in competition and three out of competition. 

In March, Athletics Kenya director of competition, Paul Mutwii, wrote to individual athletes who are probables for the World Championships advising them to ensure they meet both conditions.

“We write to notify you that Athletics Kenya has identified and nominated you as one of the probables for World Championship 2023.

“We therefore ask you to align your qualification requirements which include your training progress and anti-doping testing with a view of making the Kenya team to the World Championships,” wrote Mutwii who is also the senior vice president of the AK.

Trials to pick athletes for the gamers will be held on July 14 and 15 in Nairobi while the Games will run from August 19 to 27 August in Budapest, Hungary.

Among the runners chasing qualifying standards for the Budapest extravaganza is World 10,000m silver medalist, Stanley Waithaka who is in Europe seeking the qualifying time.

His coach, Francis Kamau Master, confirming that the athlete had met the anti-doping condition, said the requirement is giving tacticians sleepless nights since many athletes, particularly those based in Japan, might miss the Championship slots on that technicality.

“It is unfortunate that when the (Japan) athletes were in the country for three months, from December last year to March this year, the ADAK (Anti Doping Agency of Kenya) did not take the initiative of testing them,” Kamau said. 

Coach Jacob Lang’at said he has three World Championship probables. Two of them have met the qualifying standards and undergone mandatory anti-doping tests.

“I pushed hard to ensure they underwent the testing,” said Lang’at whose athletes include the World Under-20 1500m champion Reynold Kipkorir who is also the World Cross Country U-20 silver medalist.

In the past some athletes were knocked out of the national team by the anti-doping requirement.