Athletics training centres to be set up in Elgeyo Marakwet,CS Ababu says
The government is set to invest Ksh.190 Million in creation and establishment of training centers at the grassroots country wide.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said the government is set to increase the allocation to athletics training camps as it mulls over equipping them with state of the art facilities.
Speaking in Iten during the launch of the Kiprun camp, the CS said so far, at least 50 camps have been established and urged the youths to take advantage of the camps to discover and grow their talents.
He revealed that eight training camps are set to be established in Elgeyo Marakwet further saying that his ministry will roll out a a coaching programme in efforts to shore up technical officials numbers.
Namwamba who was accompanied by the French ambassador Arnaud Suquet challenged Athletics Kenya to assemble a squad that will compete at this year’s Paris Olympics saying the government will cater for the training of three steeple chasers who will be picked for the games.
He said this was to ensure that the country reclaims its glory in steeplechase which he said for a long time was known as the Kenyan race but the country has started losing it to athletes from other countries especially Ethiopia and Morocco.
“I have just been told that in the steeplechase, athletes from the same country don’t compete against each other but run together as a group and to achieve this, they must have trained and stayed together at least for three months before the race,” he said.
The CS said while Kenyans have always dominated athletics especially long distance running, other countries were offering stiff competition hence the need to invest in sports.
Former Cherangany MP and former Boston Marathon Champion Wesley Korir said following the launch of a student athletic sponsorship programme, no camp should be allowed to train junior athletes saying they should be trained in the various schools where they would be admitted.
Report By Alice Wanjiru ,KNA, Iten
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