Kenya will host a successful World Athletics Under-20 Championships, the assurance was made yesterday.

Organisers believe the preparations the country has put in will yield handsome dividends for the July 7-12 at Kasarani Stadium. 

The Steering and Local Organising Committee, overseen by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, have given a thumbs-up to the preparations and are confident of a successful event. 

Yeserday, Amina allayed fears of any delay, saying Kasarani Stadium, the host venue, and the Athletes Village at Kenyatta University, which will host 2,000 athletes, will be ready soon.

“We are giving an assurance that the forthcoming edition will be a historic moment for Kenya and as government, we are pulling all stops to achieve that.

The preparations have obviously taken a multi agency approach and indeed operational and logistical plans are well on course” Amina said during the official launch of the event logo at Trademark Hotel in Nairobi’s Gigiri suburb.

“The Steering Committee is within set timelines and the LOC has been thoroughly dedicated to the task at hand,” added Amina, who also sought to calm nerves of visitors regarding the dreaded coronavirus. 

“We have put in place government mechanisms to contain this virus and so there should be less worry.

The Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation are working in partnership in addressing it. All our entry points are now secured and manned by Kenya Defence Forces,” added the CS.

LOC chairman Lt (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei praised the efforts made by World Athletics in helping market the event. 

“With 93 days to go, all is on course thanks to both the LOC and Steering Committee. As a precursor to that championship, a high-level delegation from Monaco paid us a visit recently and were happy with the progress,” said Tuwei.

LOC CEO Myke Rabar said: “We want to increase capacity in terms of security and ensure all fans will be accredited in advance.” 

Meanwhile the designer of the logo, Sam Njaaga, has revealed the daunting task behind the project.

“It was an exciting concept that took us about four months before it was accepted.

We played around with many ideas and settled on one that captures the event, the hosting city and the country at large so as to be holistic even in terms of ideology and theme.”