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Kenya: Ministry, AK Give Junior Runners Sh7 Million Lift

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6 years ago

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The Ministry of Sports and Athletics Kenya (AK) have released Sh7 million to junior runners preparing for the World Under 20 Championships.

The event that was supposed to be held from July 7 to 12 was postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic. World Athletics (WA) is yet to announce fresh dates and it’s likely the meeting may be pushed to next year.

An estimated 100 athletes drawn from Iuani Under 20 Camp in Makueni County and Machakos Athletics Development Camp, Machakos County were the first to benefit from the donation on Sunday. The athletes were given cash and foodstuff worth Sh600,000.

AK director of youth and development, Barnaba Korir, said the money had initially been set aside for the World Under 20 Athletics camp that was to be held in April. However, it was called off because of the curfew and lockdown due to Covid-19.

Korir lauded Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for the move. He said most of the junior runners come from a humble backgrounds and have been suffering because of the virus.

The government had allocated Sh64 million for the World Under 20 training camps that were to be held during the school break. Last year, juniors in 19 camps across the country benefited.

Korir said the runners, who are training individually in line with government directive on social distancing, will each get Sh3,000 and foodstuff of a similar amount.

Athletes who spoke to Nation Sport said they are anx ious since they don’t know the new dates of the championship. They said training individually is challenging.