Athletics Kenya sets strict rules ahead of Africa Junior Championships trials

© Barnaba Korir Facebook

ATHLETICS Athletics Kenya sets strict rules ahead of Africa Junior Championships trials

Abigael Wafula 13:40 - 04.04.2023

Athletes are advised to carry all their relevant documents including birth certificates and/or passports.

Athletics Kenya (AK) has announced stringent rules as they look to stage successful trials for the African under-18 and Under-20 CAA championships on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 April at the Nyayo National Stadium.

It will be a cut-throat competition for the youngsters as AK Nairobi Region chair Barnaba Korir said they will only select the first two athletes to cross the finish line unless a need arises for the third athlete to be included.

Korir also noted that the athletes who competed at the East African junior championships held back in early March will also have to participate in the trials to compete for the slots in the continental event.

“We are ready to host the trials and we want to invite all the eligible athletes to come and participate. We are expecting large numbers of athletes to troop in and I'm sure we are going to manage that because we have set aside two days,” he said.

Korir also advised the athletes to carry their relevant documents with them including birth certificates and passports.

“The school-going athletes must come with letters from their principals to verify the documents they used when being admitted to the schools. This applies to those who do not have a passport. We do not encourage the athletes to lie about their age and there will be consequences for that,” he added.

According to the World Athletics Competition and Technical guidelines, the federation noted that for the U18 category, any athlete aged 16 or 17 years on December 31 of the year of competition (Born 2006 or 2007) will be allowed to compete.

For the U20 category, any athlete aged 18 or 19 years on December 31 of the year of competition (Born 2004 or 2005) will be eligible to compete.

As per the CAA rules on competition, it was noted that the maximum number of events in which an Under 18 athlete may compete are two individual events and one relay. However, if the two individual events are races (Track events), only one of these two individual events may exceed 200m.

The first edition of the continental championship was held in 2019 at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium, in Ivory Coast where Kenya finished second overall behind South Africa with a total of 44 medals; 17 Golds, 16 Silver, and 11 Bronze medals. 

On the other hand, Kenya won the U18 title at the same championships and Korir is bullish about athletes displaying great results.

EVENTS

U18 Boys: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 110mH, 400mH, 2000m SC, 10,000m Walk, Relay Medley (100-200m-300m-400m), High Jump, Long Jump, Tripple Jump, Shot Put, Discuss and, Javelin.

U18 Girls: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 100mH, 400mH, 2000m SC, 5,000m walk, Relay Medley (100-200m-300m-400m), High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Discus and Javelin.

U20 Men and Women: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m,10,000m, 110mH, 400mH, 3000m SC, 10,000m walk, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Discus and Javelin.                                                 Mixed Event: 4x400m

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