CS Amina gazette's World Athletics Under 20 Championship LOC for Nairobi 2021

Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage Amina Mohammed has gazetted the Steering and Local Organizing Committees for the World Athletics Under Twenty Championships that was previously slated for last year but deferred to this year owing to Covid-19 pandemic.

The government’s push to have the event, a follow up to the hugely successful Under 18 Championships staged in 2017, in the face of a pandemic that is still ravaging the world comes one day after International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach reaffirmed the organization’s determination to host the Olympics in Tokyo this August.

An earlier Gazette notice issued by Amina Mohammed’s predecessor Rashid Echesa elapsed without the event being staged. However, with vaccines rolling out of factories in millions of doses, the event, like most others postponed from the doomed 2020 looks set to happen one year on.

Tampere, Finland hosted the last edition in 2018 where Kenya finished top in the medal table ahead of 157 other countries. Athletics Kenya have ran a tight training regime over the last two years in preparation of the event, the aim being retention of top honors on home soil. 

There is not much change in the LOC members from the Echesa list as Athletics Kenya president General Jack Tuwei is retained as LOC chairman and Homeboyz entertainment founder Michael Rabar the Chief Executive Officer to be assisted by Dr Ruth Agesa.

Internationally accredited technical officer Ibrahim Hussein heads the competition department while first lady Margaret Kenyatta’s personal trainer and marathon legend Douglas Wakiihuri is the event’s logistics director.

Zaheeda Suleiman of Safaricom is director of marketing and commercial while the media and broadcasting department will be headed by Alex Kobia and assisted by Chris Mbaisi and Mike Okinyi.

The event usually attracts appro