Athletics: Kenya seeks hot weather training camp

Coach Julius Kirwa during the 38th Edition of the Kenya Defence Forces Cross Country championship at Kahawa Garrison on Friday, January 25, 2019. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Athletics head coach Julius Kirwa says his team will have to move its training camp from Nairobi to a warmer area in order to help the athletes acclimatize ahead of the 2019 World Championships in Doha later this month.

Kirwa said the team would train in the heat of Kajiado in order to represent similar conditions to the Qatari capital. “We may need to train in hot and humid areas like Kajiado and the Athi River around midday to compete well in Doha,” Kirwa said on Wednesday in Nairobi. He says the city is hot and humid and that dehydration will be a major concern.

The World Championships has been pushed back to October from its traditional start date of August due to the heat and action is being taken to ensure that athletes are able to perform in the extreme heat. Temperatures in Doha can rise above 45 degrees Celsius, some 30 degrees warmer than Nairobi’s current climate.