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100m and 200m will each have 22 Heats while 5000m will have 8 Heats.
The 'Ferdinand Omanyala mania' is continuing to sweep across the athletics amphitheaters as Athletics Kenya witness an outpouring of enthusiasts for the short races.
The 3rd AK Weekend Meeting penciled for Thika on 10th and 11th March 2023 has attracted 249 participants in Omanyala's preferred 100m discipline with a total of 707 entries in sprints, excluding hurdles.
The second meet held at the Nyayo National Stadium was no different as it had also attracted the highest number of 100m runners especially the men where they had 24 heats. Omanyala and Samwel Imeta highlighted the event.
The 200m distance has also attracted 248 athletes while the 400m has attracted 210 athletes. The highest number of athletes have registered for the 5000m (252).
The 100m will have a total of 22 heats in the men's category and eight heats in the women. The 200m women's heats will be nine while the men's will have 20. Meanwhile, the 400m distance will have eight and 16 heats in the women's and men's categories respectively.
Some of the athletes who have confirmed participation include Africa 200m silver medallist Maximila Imali, two-time Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal, Omanyala's fiancée Laventa Amutavi, Millicent Ndoro and Dan Kiviasi.
In a post on his Facebook page on March 2, AK Nairobi Region Chair Barnaba Korir had expressed confidence that Kenya can also become a powerhouse over the sprints. Korir noted that it’s AK’s responsibility to ensure the sprinters have the right training environment.
“It is encouraging to see many sprinters coming up as evidenced by the huge number that competed last weekend. The men’s 100m, for instance, had 24 heats precipitated by the hundreds of athletes who registered to compete in this category.
Regardless of who made the podium places, the greatest winner from last weekend’s competition is Kenyan athletics. It goes to show that the future is bright as far as the sport is concerned,” a part of the post read.
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Field events are also doing quite well with long jump attracting 85 athletes followed by shot put with 67 registered athletes. The hammer throw has the least number of registered athletes (25).
Considering the regions, Kenya Defense Forces have registered the highest number of athletes followed by the Nairobi Region. Meanwhile, male athletes have also come up in large numbers (74.1%) as compared to the women.
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07:53 - 02.03.2023
ATHLETICS Thika Stadium selected for 3rd Athletics Kenya track and field meet
Ruringu Stadium in Nyeri was initially the preferred venue before AK officials switched.
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