No more wild cards as Lotto gives Athletics Kenya Sh12m

Athletics Kenya has cancelled the controversial wild cards in the selection of the team that will represent the country at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda in March 26, 2017.

AK Vice-President in-charge of competition Paul Mutwii made the announcement while receiving Sh12 million cash sponsorship from Lotto Foundation towards the cross country championship slated for February 18 at Uhuru Gardens.

The track and field national also announced that the event will not be an IAAF permit meeting as it has been due to some logistical issues.

Apart from the traditional schedules of junior men and women, senior men and women competitions, the event will also have the newly introduced mixed-gender relay race in its programme.

The panel of selectors will select two men and two men in this category which is ran in an interval of two kilometers each.

"We had had some challenges with wildcard selection in the previous. That's why we have decided to drop it for this event. The top six athletes to across the line in each race will earn automatic selection to the Kenyan team," Mutwii said.

He continued: "The selectors will also select two men and two women that will team up and represent us in the mixed-relays race from the same event. Because initially we didn't have a sponsor for this event, before Lotto Foundation came to our aid, the event will not be an IAAF permit meet as it has been before."

Mutwii added: The event will not have invited teams from other countries or guest runners. All participants must come from the AK regions and affiliates.

The selected team will report to residential camp in Kigari Teachers College, Embu County on February 22, before departing to Kampala on March 23 ahead of competition on March 26.

It's now a norm for elite runners to shy away from cross country championships with world champion Asbel Kiprop and Olympic silver medallist Hellen Obiri already saying they won't be part of the team