Local Organizing Committee For Under-20 Championships Given Nod By World Athletics

18th February 2020

The 19-man delegation toured the country last week from February 11-13 to scrutinize the championship venues, hotels, technical suppliers, media and broadcast, as well as athletes Village at Kenyatta University

World U20 LOC boss Mike Rabar (left) with World Athletics officials at Kasarani Stadium last week. PHOTO | PD
World U20 LOC boss Mike Rabar (left) with World Athletics officials at Kasarani Stadium last week. PHOTO | PD
SUMMARY
  • The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the World Under-20 Championships slated for July 7-12 has been given a nod by the World Athletics delegation that was in the country to inspect the facilities
  • While closing the consultative sessions between the World Athletics team and the Organizing Committee, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed assured the World Athletics delegation that Kenya will be ready to host the World U-20 Championships
  • Already, teams like Germany have already sent a delegation to look at the facilities

NAIROBI, Kenya- The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the World Under-20 Championships slated for July 7-12 has been given a nod by the World Athletics delegation that was in the country to inspect the facilities. 

The 19-man delegation toured the country last week from February 11-13 to scrutinize the championship venues, hotels, technical suppliers, media and broadcast, as well as athletes Village at Kenyatta University.

The committee said they are happy with the milestones achieved so far and are looking forward to the global showpiece.

“We achieved all our objectives. It was really fantastic and a lot of things have been done.

“Coming together as a team was really important and we can now look forward to a great event. It’s good that we are all reading from the same page with the event only four months away,” said James Lord, director of broadcasting at World Athletics.

While closing the consultative sessions between the World Athletics team and the Organizing Committee, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed assured the World Athletics delegation that Kenya will be ready to host the World U-20 Championships.

“There should be no cause for alarm on the areas that we seem to be lagging behind. We reworked the Nyayo Stadium in seven days in preparation for the late President Moi’s funeral service and this is a testament to what we are capable of despite limited time,” the CS assured.

The CS said the steering committee is action-oriented and they are currently sorting issues as they arise. She said they have already released funds towards the Moi Stadium, Kasarani renovations and works will start in due course.

She was accompanied by the PS Joe Okudo and CAS Noor Hassan Noor, and they further said they have instructions to have the stadium ready and in time for the Championships.

And in a new development, World Athletics has announced that the Under 20 show will be available free of charge on YouTube as they seek to reach out to a wider audience around the continent.

“We want to make sure that everyone across the continent watches the event. We will have a free to air deal in Kenya and Africa as a whole.

“We hope to stream live not just the races, but also feature highlights and interviews from the event. We will ensure everyone interested in watching the event gets the access. We promise it is going to be spectacular,” James Lord added.

Already, teams like Germany have already sent a delegation to look at the facilities.