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Athletics Kenya Track and Field third leg meeting will be held at the Nyayo National Stadium this weekend with the federation citing lack of facilities at the regions.

The event had been awarded to the Eastern region with the initial venue being Embu Stadium before it was shifted to Kirubia Stadium in the neighbouring Tharaka Nithi County. 

But AK now says the venue could not meet the standards to host the event hence the decision to move it to Nyayo.

 The decision was arrived at after a site visit at the Kirubia Stadium by a team led by AK senior vice president Paul Mutwii.

“The stadium is good, yes, it has got a very good tartan but then we had a few concerns since it cannot accommodate field events and also the 110m hurdles. Our intention is to expose our athletes to the highest standards possible and that is why we have opted to move the meet to Nyayo,” said Mutwii.

It will be the second time Nyayo Stadium will be hosting a weekend meeting this season, with the first leg having been held at the venue earlier this month. The second meeting was held in Moi Stadium, Kisumu, just over a week ago.

With the two events having witnessed high turnout, Mutwii said they expect the same to continue this weekend.

“We are very impressed with the way our athletes are now taking these events very seriously. We are particularly very encouraged with the sprinters who have continued to show up in numbers. This is very important since we want to diversify our medal prospects in major championships,” he said.

The fourth and final weekend meeting will be held in Bukhungu Stadium, Kakamega, on March 19 which will then set the stage for the national championships to be held on April 28-30

Mutwii is optimistic Kenya will select a strong team for the Africa Senior Championships slated for Mauritius in June as well as the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

“From what we have seen so far from the weekend meetings we are confident we will get a very competitive team for the continental and world events,” Mutwii said.