Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jack Tuwei has spoken highly of Kenyan athletes who will compete in the 2022 World Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games after the conclusion of two-day trials over the weekend. 

AK named a team of 46 athletes to Oregon and 43 for Commonwealth. A majority of those are set to participate in the two events except for sprinters who failed to meet qualification time for Oregon. The team is expected to embark on a bubble training camp at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani today, as a safety precaution against the rising spread of the sixth wave of the Covid-19 in the country. 

Tuwei said that the federation’s wish is to give the athletes the best chance and good environment to train for both events devoid of any pressure. 

“I know we can surpass our performance from the previous World Championships and Commonwealth Games. With  the events close to each other, we can maximize and get the best results,” he added. 

Tuwei said all the necessary precautions will be taken to ensure Covid-19 protocols are observed to avoid putting athletes at risk of infection. 

Training in a bubble

“We are working together with the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) to have the team report to camp immediately and train in a bubble as we did before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. We don’t want to leave any athlete behind,” said Tuwei. 

Tuwei added that having the teams under the NOC-K umbrella will enable quick logistics planning including visa processing and travel plans. 

“We don’t have time as the World Championships will be starting soon. So, we want to speed up everything, getting visas for the two countries since most athletes will be doubling, then have the travel arrangements also sorted as soon as possible,” he said. 

The athletics team now joins other teams like hockey, boxing, cycling, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball, wheelchair basketball, para-athletics, powerlifting and para-cycling at Kasarani for training. 

Others in camp are men’s sevens rugby and triathlon.  Bowling, squash, swimming, beach volleyball, table tennis and badminton are training in satellite camps. 

The men’s and women’s marathon teams are in Ngong, Kapsabet, Iten and Nyeri camps.