Preparations for the first World Athletics Cross Country Tour planned for Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County on February 12, 2022 are underway.
A technical team drawn from Athletics Kenya led by senior vice president in charge of competitions, Paul Mutwii, will be spearheading plans for the event which are set to take place in Africa for the first time.
The meet has been named after Agnes Tirop, the 2015 World Cross Country champion who was found murdered at her home last month in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
“We are happy we secured a chance to stage another world-class event in Eldoret that is known to produce some of the best athletes. It was named after Agnes Tirop in honour of the athlete who died last month,” Mutwii stated.
Uasin Gishu County governor Jackson Mandago pointed out that the tour would be an opportunity for many fans to travel to Eldoret to watch the international race.
“We are lucky to have the global event held in Eldoret and this is an opportunity for athletics fans to converge and watch international athletes compete," Mandago noted.
The sentiments were echoed by AK Central Rift region chairman Abraham Mutai, who also noted that the event would be a boost for the local athletes as they would get an opportunity to run in a world event.
“As you well know, World Cross Country has been postponed up to 2023, this will be a good opportunity for athletes to participate and we will also be hosting our national cross country trials at the same venue,” Mutai highlighted.
“Right now, the experts are marking and designing the course which we are going to sit down and deliberate on. We expect the event to host top cream athletes because there will be no world cross country next year.”
“Cross country gives room for creativity to create the course which we are going to start to mark the course in two day’s time, as you have seen the course is wide and scenic," Technical Director Ibrahim Hussein noted.
The next Athletics Kenya Cross Country meet will be held at Olkalau in Nyandarua County on Saturday, November 20.