2029 World Championships: Kenya Warned Over Critical Aspect They Cannot Mess With - ‘Athletes Can Reject It’

As Kenya prepares to begin preparations for the 2029 World Athletics Championships, the country has been warned against taking shortcuts.

On Tuesday, Nairobi was awarded the rights to stage the 2029 edition with the World Athletics Council approving their bid ahead of Munich, London and Rome.

That therefore puts Nairobi in the spotlight and with critics already dragging Kenya’s deputation in the mud, the country has been told to ensure high standards are met on key aspects of their organisation.

“Before long, the delegates will start arriving to check on the preparedness and even looking at what to expect from Kenya,” Mwangi Muthee, who was CEO of the Local Organising Committee during the Nairobi 2017 World U18 Championships, told Pulse Sports.

“Others will be sending spies to look at where they can punch holes into our organisation and planning. It is a very complex structure.”

One area where Muthee insists Kenya cannot compromise quality is when it comes to training facilities as these will affect athletes directly which would have devastating effects if what is put up does not meet the standards.

“You need five or up to 10 training venues because you need to give a team enough time to train. The number of athletes will determine the number of venues and those venues need to have a replica of the competition venue or just thereabouts,” he added.

“You don’t want athletes going to training and coming back with injuries or issues. You can prepare a venue and the athletes reject it or the [World Athletics] council rejects it. So there have to be standard facilities available but we are equal to the task.”

With Kasarani Stadium set to host the 2029 World Championships, great attention will be given to it, but it is the warm up tracks and training venues for field events that Muthee wants Kenya to treat with care before the event begins.

“We have the venues that can be brought up to speed quickly if time is there and the resources are mobilised,” he stated.

“The standards of everything cannot be compromised and if you try, you will be exposed and it will be bad for Kenya and Africa.

“For field events, you need training field events that replicate the competition venue and the same for the warmup tracks.”

There are a number of training facilities already in existence that will need sprucing up such as Nyayo Stadium and Ulinzi Complex, which have hosted the Kip Keino Classic, Kasarani Annex and Kenya University, the latter used during the World U18 and U20 Championships.

Further, there is a plan to lay a tartan track at one of the outside training pitches adjacent to Talanta Stadium which will further boost Kenya’s preparations.

“If you wait, it can be too late because you need training grounds for field events and warmup tracks for every discipline. We are talking about more than 200 countries and you cannot concentrate them at one training venue,” said Muthee, who is also a former chairman of the Kenya Rugby Union.

“You need to have decentralised venues and have hotels that will favour venues and competitions or the areas and other amenities. It is a huge operation that needs time to prepare.”