AK youth chief Barnaba Korir confident team to the Worlds meet age criteria

Athletics Kenya (AK) Youth Development Committee Chairman Barnaba Korir has expressed his confidence that the 23-member Kenyan team selected for the World Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, has fully met the age eligibility requirements set by World Athletics.

Korir says the federation took extra precautions during the selection process to ensure compliance with competition regulations and eliminate any possibility of age-related disputes.

“We managed to select a team that competed here and most of them were from schools, with a few who had finished but were still in the age bracket. We did not bring as many athletes as we wished but regarding the rules governing this competition, we had to be vigilant. This is a very young team, and I am confident we will not have any issues concerning age manipulation,” Korir said.

Korir noted that Athletics Kenya deliberately moved the trials forward to allow ample time for visa processing and final preparations ahead of the championships scheduled for August 5–9 in the United States.

According to Korir, early selection will help athletes focus on training while the federation works on securing travel documents and meeting all logistical requirements in good time.

“The reason we changed the dates for the trials which were supposed to be in July is because of Visas…so now we have plenty of time for practice and to apply for their travel documents. We had a meeting with the USA embassy about three weeks ago and we discussed on how we are going to apply for the visas and meet the conditions needed,” he said.

Korir also challenged the young athletes to raise Kenya’s profile on the global stage by surpassing last year’s performance, when the country finished fifth overall at the championships.

“All in all, last year we finished fifth overall, so your duty is to do better than that and bring home more medals,” he said.

The squad was unveiled on Saturday after two days of intense national trials held from May 22 -23 at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, where emerging middle-distance athletes competed for team slots.

Among the athletes picked to lead Kenya’s charge are; Frankline Kibet, the World U20 Cross Country champion, alongside Cynthia Chepkurui, who recently claimed the African U18 3,000m title.

The squad also includes Mercy Chepng’eno, who won silver at the African Championships in Accra, alongside Joyline Chepkemoi, the African U20 3,000m bronze medallist, among other promising athletes.