Olympics pre-trials to double up as Africa Athletics Championships selections

Vincent Keter leads the 1,500m field during the Under-20 pre-trials at Nyayo Stadium on November 20, 2020. [Dennis Okeyo, The Standard]

Athletics Kenya (AK) will use the Tokyo Olympic Games pre-trials set for Nyayo Stadium today to pick a squad for the African Athletics Championships scheduled for Lagos, Nigeria between June 23 and 27.

Nigeria was confirmed as the new host for the 21st CAA African Athletics Championships after the previous host, Algiers in Algeria, pulled out citing COVID-19 disruptions.

The announcement came as a sigh of relief for athletes who had hoped to use the event as a yardstick for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"The championships will give our athletes, especially the sprinters, a chance to get the qualification times for the Olympics,” said Julius Kirwa, AK National coach.

At the same time, the latest developments have disrupted the AK calendar of events since they had already scrapped it off their to-do list after Algeria’s withdrawal.

Julius Kirwa [File, The Standard]