After weeks of uncertainty over a suitable venue to host a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital is now set to welcome top international and local track and field stars on Saturday, May 31, 2025.

First held in 2020, the Continental Tour Gold is an annual series of independent track and field competitions recognised by World Athletics.

The Kip Keino Classic joined the series in 2021 after receiving certification. Athletics Kenya announced on Monday, May 26, 2025, that an air quality monitoring sensor has been installed at the Ulinzi Sports Complex ahead of the sixth leg of the 2025 Continental Tour Gold series.

“It’s a World Athletics requirement that venues hosting international championships meet clean air standards. This ensures that athletes, both local and international, compete in environments where the air is not only safe but verified,” Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei, who also serves as World Athletics vice president, said.

With the venue issue resolved, top international athletes have begun arriving in Kenya to test their form ahead of the Tokyo 2025 World Championships in September.

Among the headline arrivals is two-time world men’s javelin champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.

Peters enters as a favourite for Saturday’s event, having recently claimed bronze at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha with a throw of 85.64m.

The Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist is returning to the Kip Keino Classic for the first time since earning silver in 2023 with 85.72m, finishing behind Belgium’s Timothy Herman.

“I performed well here. Competing against someone like Julius Yego, someone I grew up watching compete on TV, has always pushed me … He lit a path for people like me,” Peters said upon arrival.

He was paying tribute to local favourite Julius Yego, the 2015 world champion, who will again be among his competitors in a javelin contest classified as a discretionary event at this year’s Kip Keino Classic.

Discretionary events will feature both international and local athletes, though results will not count toward Continental Tour Gold rankings.

However, performances will be eligible for inclusion on the annual performance list.

Reigning African Games men’s 400m champion Chidi Okezie of Nigeria is also among the international stars looking to shine at Ulinzi.

“There’s something special about running in Africa, with Africans, for Africa. Every time I race here, it feels like I am contributing to a bigger story, the story of African excellence in track and field,” Okezie told the event’s website.

Okezie is aiming for a senior world championships medal, having previously claimed gold in the 4x400m relay at the junior level in 2012.

South African Olympic 4x100m silver medalist Bayanda Waraza, who was part of the gold-winning relay team at the recent Guangzhou 2025 World Relays, is set to contend for the men’s 100m title.

Among other anticipated showdowns is the women’s 800m battle between Kenyan world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mary Moraa and Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.