Athletics Kenya (AK) has announced a change of date for the trials for the World Athletics Championships – Tokyo 2025.

The change comes as Athletics Kenya continues to prepare the nation’s top athletes for the global event, with Tokyo set to host the World Athletics Championships later this 2025.

The trials will now be held on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi, moving from the previously scheduled for August 1 and 2, 2025.

In an official statement released on Friday, July 4, 2025, AK cited the unavailability of the stadium on the original dates as the reason for the adjustment.

“Athletics Kenya wishes to inform athletes and stakeholders in the athletics fraternity that the Trials for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 will now be held on July 22, 2025, at the Ulinzi Sports Complex, Nairobi,” read the statement.

“This adjustment has been necessitated by the unavailability of the stadium on the initially scheduled dates of 1st-2nd August.”

AK has athletes and stakeholders to take note of the new date and adjust their preparations accordingly. Bib collection for the event will take place on Monday, July 21, 2025, between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm at the venue.

“Participation in the trials will be strictly by invitation only. Athletics Kenya has confirmed that further details, including the list of invited athletes, invitation criteria, and the selection process for the Kenyan team to the World Athletics Championships, will be communicated in due course.” Read the AK statement.

 Kenya will be targeting to improve its 2023 results in Budapest, Hungary, where it finished 5th overall with 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals.

The 2025 World Athletics Championships will be held at Tokyo’s rebuilt Japan National Stadium, with more than 2000 athletes from more than 200 countries set to compete in 49 track and field events.

The organisers expect the tournament to be filled with a large number of speculators filling over 68,000 seats stadium.

Atheletes readiness

 Meanwhile, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has cleared 120 athletes to participate in the upcoming World Championships trials as the race to meet anti-doping protocols ahead of the global showpiece in Tokyo this September intensifies.

Under strict guidelines set by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), Kenyan athletes eyeing slots to represent the country at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo must undergo three mandatory no-notice out-of-competition tests before August 29. The window for the first of the three mandatory had been set for May 24,2025.

ADAK’s head of Anti-Doping education and research, Martin Yahuma, highlighted that compliance with AIU Rule 15 is non-negotiable for all athletes eyeing Team Kenya slots.

“We have to implement rule 15 of the AIU regulations, and one of the requirements was that ADAK conducts mandatory tests from September 2024 to May 24 2025, on all athletes eligible to represent the country at the World Championships.”

According to Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) rule 15, an athlete selected to represent a country ranked in category A in a major championship is required to have undergone three out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) 10 months before the competition.

He confirmed that Athletics Kenya (AK) submitted a list of 145 athletes eligible for testing, out of which 120 completed the first round by the May 24 deadline.