Julius Yego decries high Olympic qualification standards, offers solution on how Africa can help athletes

Julius Yego decries high Olympic qualification standards, offers solution on how Africa can help athletes

Abigael Wafula 18:32 - 01.07.2024

Julius Yego has bemoaned the high Olympic qualification standards and given an idea on how African federations can come together to help athletes qualify for field events in upcoming Olympic Games.

The 2015 world javelin champion Julius Yego has opened up on how best Africa can join hands to ensure field events are well represented in the upcoming Olympic Games including the 2028 LA showpiece.

Yego noted that the qualifying standards by World Athletics were a bit too high and many athletes would have opted to qualify via their world ranking but Africa lacks sufficient events to earn athletes’ points.

The former Olympic silver medallist noted that the 50% who are to qualify via the world ranking will most likely come from countries in Europe since they have enough events that can earn them a lot of points to increase their chances of being selected.

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“Speaking about the rankings, I think it’s a good thing for the athletes because as you know, World Athletics put very high qualification standards in all events now they want 50/50,” Yego said.

“They want those who attain the qualification standards to be 50% and those who attain via rankings to also be 50%.

“We can also have Africa host championships because in Europe, there are events where athletes can compete and get points but in Africa it’s only the national championships and African Championships.”

The five-time African champion added that Kenya can also join and host a number of events apart from the National Championships and Kip Keino Classic.

The multiple national champion insisted that federation leaders from across the globe should have a sit down and forge the way forward for the athletes if they really want to be represented in large numbers at the Olympic Games or any major stage.

“For example, like Kenya, we need to organise many championships, not one and it should not be like the weekend meets that we have. If we really want to have our athletes qualifying for major championships, we need to host many championships,” he added.

“I think the heads of federations in Africa should think of ways to help the athletes to get the points and get the performance. The more you compete the more the body gets used to competing so it’s all about putting our heads together to see what we can do to help the athletes.”