Prepare athletes well

The 2026/2027 athletics season that will be one of the busiest for Kenyan athletes got underway with the first leg Athletics Kenya Cross Country Championships in Machakos County last Saturday.

The season leads to the Africa Cross Country Championships on March 20 in Mbabane, Swaziland, African Games from August 27 to September 10 in Cairo, Egypt, and World Athletics Championships from September 11 to 19 in Beijing, China.

We hope the drop in performance at the 23rd Commonwealth Games held from July 23 to August 2, this year in Glasgow, Scotland, was a wake-up call for the country, especially ahead of the world championships.

Kenya collected 12 medals; three gold, four silver and five bronze that included a bronze from weightlifting. This is compared to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England where the country got 21 medals; six gold, five silver and 10 bronze. It included a bronze from para powerlifting.

It now calls for proper planning from the government, Athletics Kenya, coaches, athletes’ management and the athletes with the world championships in Beijing the main target.

Many expect improved results from the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships where the female athletes staged a historic sweep of all the six gold medals from middle distance to road for a total of 11 medals; seven gold, two silver and two bronze.

The men's performance that has plummeted over the years. This was manifested when Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the only gold in Tokyo with none coming in 2023 in Budapest, Hungary.

We hope AK will organise camps from sprinters, field events and races where the country has struggled like men's steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m.

Lack of facilities has been a big issue for the athletes as witnessed during the Commonwealth Games preparations hence the ongoing renovations need to be fast-tracked.

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