Athletics Coming Home

For the first time, the World Athletics Championships are coming to Africa, and Kenya is the host. On this edition of Jeff Koinange Live, Jeff turned the bench into a sports desk to ask the question every fan is asking: can Kenya deliver a world-class championship by 2029?

Joining him were marathon great Douglas Wakiihuri, a former world marathon champion; Bernard Ouma, Director of Sports at the Ministry of Sports; Jinaro Kibet, Vice President of Athletics Kenya; and Deputy Government Spokesperson Gabriel Muthuma, all of whom were part of the push for the bid.

Ouma's answer to whether Kasarani can be transformed in three years was emphatic: yes, "in capital letters." He traced the bid back through a long run of hosting, from the 2007 World Cross Country to the World Under-18 Championships in 2017 and the Under-20 Championships in 2021, held in the middle of COVID. The championship, he said, is "the icing on the cake."

Kibet pointed out that World Athletics did not hand Kenya the event lightly. Evaluation panels will keep inspecting progress, and there are timelines in the event agreement that the country must meet. Stadium work for football will run alongside preparations for 2029.

Wakiihuri saw the bid as the fruit of decades of Kenyan legends on the track. Jeff pressed him on a sore point: Kenya's champions are too often forgotten once they retire. Will the legends have a role this time? Wakiihuri said he believes they will, because the bid itself was won on the strength of their names.

With Kenya second only to the United States in the all-time medal table by Jeff's count, the stakes could not be higher. The panel's message was simple: the hard part starts now. Every month counts between now and 2029, and the world will be watching Kasarani.

Continue with Part 2 on Citizen TV.