Kamariny Stadium ‘painting bad image’, speed up construction, government told  

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Government urged to speed up the construction of Kamariny Stadium.

ATHLETICS Kamariny Stadium ‘painting bad image’, speed up construction, government told  

Kiplagat Sang • 20:09 - 17.03.2023

The facility has yet to undergo complete construction since it was earmarked for an upgrade.

The national government has been urged to speed up the construction of Kamariny Stadium after a long delay in the completion of its renovation.

Elgeyo Marakwet County’s Executive for Sports and Youth Affairs, Purity Koima, said the neglected facility is giving the county a ‘bad image’.

The county is one of the leading producers of high-profile athletes in the country, although the famous stadium has not been usable for training.

"We just hope the government will speed up the construction of the facility, which is now painting a bad picture in Iten," Koima said as quoted by Nation Sports.

"We have more than 3,000 athletes who have been training in this area, but they are forced to seek other venues for their training, which is a bad picture.

"Our governor, Wisley Rotich, and the department of sports looked at it, and we thought, how can we make the Kamariny Stadium a little bit usable. We just moved in, did some grading, and we are planning to add murram so that they can use it for speed work," said the CEC.

"We are calling upon the national government to consider ours as the first stadium to be handled because we are the home of champions. We really look forward to seeing Kamariny Stadium in good state."

Among the high-profile athletes that have trained at the historic stadium and went on to make their names on the world stage are former London Marathon champion Joyciline Jepkosgei, Leonard Barsoton, and former Berlin Marathon champion Florence Kiplagat.

David Rudisha, the 800-meter world record holder, former world 5,000-meter silver medalist Sylvia Kibet, and Irene Cheptai, the former world cross country champion, have also trained at the facility.

Kamariny Stadium had been cited for renovation by the government over six years ago, but there is nothing proud to show

This is one of the facilities that the government had earmarked for renovation – to a tune of Ksh287 million - six years ago, but little progress has been made since.

The county government – through the development coordination committee in 2020 -  suspended the works after the contractor, Funan Contractor, failed to meet the deadline set in their agreement with Sports Kenya.