T. NashipaeKenya hopes to clear doing crisis before bidding for the World Athletics Championships
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 05.02.23. | 22:00
Kenya lost a bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships because of the challenges surrounding stadia in Kenya
Kenya will not bid to host the 2027 World Athletics Championships but will do so in 2029.
This is due to the rising cases of doping, which continue to taint Kenya’s global pride as an athletic powerhouse. She will have to deal with the doping menace first before bidding to host a major event like the World Championships.
Speaking during a press briefing in Eldoret, Athletics Kenya (AK) President Jack Tuwei revealed that they would not bid to host the 2027 World Championships, but will wait to bid for the 2029 World Championships and instead focus on dealing with the doping menace.
In addition to that, the state of infrastructure in Kenya is far from the set standards of the World Athletics according to the Athletics Chief and it would take Kenya considerable amounts of money and time to sort that out.
Kenya had bid to host the 2025 showpiece alongside the Polish City of Silesia, Singapore, and Japan, but Japan won the bid.
“Kenya lost its bid to host the 2025 World Championships. We were competing with countries like Japan, Singapore, and Poland. When the officials asked to come and look at our infrastructure, we welcomed them. They checked Nyayo and Kasarani stadia and told us that the state of infrastructure is not good. We know that it will take a long time to upgrade the stadiums, and we have now shifted focus to the doping menace.” Tuwei remarked.
Kenya has hosted successful events in the past like the World U18 Championships in 2018, the World U-20 Championships in 2021, and three editions of the Kip Keino Classic which is a leg of the World Athletics Continental Gold Tour.
2022 was the darkest year in Kenyan athletics, with over 60 cases of doping reported. The latest case of doping this year was that of Betty Wilson Lempus. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) slapped her with a five-year ban for testing positive for the presence of a prohibited substance -Triamcinolone Acetonide.
