Barnaba Korir pleased with level of talent in Kenya, asks for more government support

Athletics Kenya (AK) Youth and Development Director Barnaba Korir has expressed pleasure with the high level of talent in the country’s athletic arena.

The country has hosted various global events including the World U20 Championships in 2021, the Kipkeino Classic, Chepsaita Cross Country, as well as the most recent Sirikwa World Cross Country Tour gold held at the Lobo Village in Eldoret on Saturday 4.

Apart from hosting the events, Kenya takes pride in producing world-beating athletes like world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum, former world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, world 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon, and two-time New York City marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor among others.

For instance, during the Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour gold attracted over 3,000 kids who were all eager to compete in the race.

Korir, who served as the race director, pointed out that they had invited 500 children, only for thousands of them to turn up.

They were forced to turn back 500 kids due to congestion on the course.

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Despite that, he pointed out that the resilience of the kids was a potent indication of the country’s prowess in the future. He noted that the kids were the future of Kenyan athletics.

“I keep getting surprised because I thought I had seen it all in athletics but now we get surprised every time we plan on hosting something."

He further noted that the Ministry of Sports through the Talanta Hela initiative was keen on nurturing the young talents to ensure an unending pipeline of world beaters.

“This is special for us and the people have also learned from this program and they have made progress and we encourage the county governments to be part of this sports development in which the CS Ababu Namwamba has set up an initiative to nurture talent,” Korir said.

He was also pleased with the hundreds of masters’ athletes who turned up for the Sirikwa Classic, noting that their participation would serve as a morale booster to the young ones competing.

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“The success of this event culminates from what we have been doing so far in other activities but this one has reached another level because we have many people who have shown up and communities have also come, young ones and old,” he averred.

Regarding that, the former athlete called on the government to support the talents by constructing proper infrastructure to promote sports in the athletics-rich county.

“As a nation, this is the direction that we have to take…this is the level other countries have also reached. It not only helps the athletes but the community at large and see to it that we build more stadiums and institutions that assist in promoting sports. Sports is a function that brings us together so we have to embrace it and ensure that we bring the people of Kenya together,” Korir concluded.